The volunteer group after a welcoming ceremony led by the locals
After an exhausting day trek across the valley (some on horses and some on foot), we arrived in Chhomrong – another small village within the Annapurna region. Our equipment had been carefully packed the day before and sent off on donkeys for the journey and every member of the team had their fingers crossed that it all arrived safely and undamaged. The trek, on the other hand, was very eventful (to say the least) and those on horses definitely have some stories to tell. Nevertheless, we arrived safe although worse for wear, and ready to start our next leg of the trip.
Beautiful view from the health clinic
School children waiting to be treated
The morning was spent setting up and organising our clinic using two spare rooms in the health centre located within the village. The clinic itself was run by the former principal of a local school and was only newly developed, still seeking funds by the government to be fully set up. Again the space we were provided with was small and sparse, yet as always the team was able to forage some furniture and electricity and put together a fully functioning dental clinic.
One of two beds in the treatment room
Throughout our short, but busy, two day clinic we saw around 80 patients including children and teenagers from the school, of which only two did not require treatment. We carried out 55 restorations and 49 extractions, amongst other miscellaneous treatments. Despite the many patients with an evident lack of oral hygiene, the overall oral health of these patients (especially the adolescents) seemed to be better than the people of Kliu, although still in dire need of improvement.
Again, our time spent in Chhomrong was too short and we hope to return (despite the long trek) in the near future.