Warnervale Dental is passionate about improving the oral health of those in need and promoting the critical role it plays in a person’s quality of life. Our lovely dental nurse, Melanie Rodenberg recently embarked on an extraordinary trip to Vietnam where she volunteered with the Australia Vietnam Volunteers Resource Group (AVVRG) providing critical dental care treatment to the local community.
Caring for orphans in Vietnam
Melanie and the volunteer team stayed in a town called Ba Ria working out of a dental bus at the Tu An Temple, a Buddhist orphanage. For Melanie it was her first-time volunteering and she described the trip as “an unforgettable experience and felt proud to be able to spend time with, assist with dental procedures and provide oral health education to the children”.
“Very few of the kids or adults had good oral health”, Melanie explains. “We took over toothbrushes and toothpaste and provided oral health education, mostly on how to brush properly and assisted with fillings and extractions utilising the limited equipment available”. Despite the language barrier and often long wait to be treated, the kids were “truly appreciative and genuinely happy, with the biggest hearts and smiles” says the dental nurse.
Highlight of the trip
The volunteers were invited to attend the annual moon festival for the kids held at the temple. Many people attended from the community and the kids put on a fantastic and very colourful show. Melanie and the team also bought the orphans books (bilingual in Vietnamese and English) and even introduced them to snapchat, resulting in a lot of laughter.
“The trip was an amazing experience that I will never forget, and I am looking forward planning another trip in the near future” says Melanie.
Australia Vietnam Volunteers Resource Group (AVVRG) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid in Vietnam, which it has been doing for over 20 years.
Warnervale Dental will continue to volunteer in the future and look forward to giving back to the community and the less fortunate.
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