Reading dental nurse goes back to her roots for charity
A dental nurse from Reading has gone back to her roots to help people in need in Africa.
Sneha Pandya, a senior dental nurse from the Royal Berkshire Hospital, travelled to Uganda to complete a two week placement with charity Smile Star; 40 years ago, Sneha fled Uganda with her family when dictator, Idi Amin, expelled thousands of Asian residents.
During the placement, Sneha worked in the Iganga district, which is one hour’s drive from the capital city, Kampala. Sneha worked as part of a 10-man team, which included nurses, dentists and surgeons; over the course of the two week period, the team worked tirelessly to treat as many people as possible, extracting teeth and treating cysts and abscesses in more than 350 people.
Sneha said that the trip was extremely emotional; she recalled being in Uganda as a small child and said that it was incredible to go back to her roots all these years later.
Dental services are very poor in Uganda and Sneha said that brought it home how incredibly lucky we are to have the NHS in the UK; many of the adults and children who attended the makeshift clinics had never seen a dentist before and had been suffering with pain for several years.
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