Brooklands Dentists Make A Difference In Africa
A dental team from Brooklands has helped to make a difference to hundreds of children in Africa; the team from Maple Road sent toothbrushes and toothpaste packs out to a school in Kenya after hearing from a patient that the children had never owned a toothbrush before.
Kath and Mike Blears, patients at the practice, set the ball rolling when they mentioned that they had set up a school near Mombasa,Kenya. The Michael James School, in Mtwapa, is named after the couple’s son who sadly died.
Kath and Mike have travelled extensively in Africa but decided to establish a charity to help children in Kenya after they fell in love with the people of Mtwapa. The couple founded HOLA (Help Orphans Live Again) and their first project was to raise funds to build an orphanage, which has gone from strength to strength and is now managed by the local church.
After the success of the orphanage, the couple wanted to do more and they identified education as an important area of need; the charity started fundraising and they built the Michael James School. The school provides reading and writing lessons but one of the most important issues they teach children about is hygiene; with so many diseases rife in Kenya, it is important that children understand the importance of good hygiene.
Many of the children had never seen a toothbrush in real life before and when the couple happened to mention this to dentists at the Maple Road practice, they wanted to help and immediately sent toothbrushes and toothpaste out to the children.
For further information about the charity, visit www.holacharity.org.uk.
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