2nd day (Manda)

Today was a very exhausting day.

This morning we conducted another oral hygiene demonstration with communal toothbrushing at Manda. The children had a lot of fun and worked well, as you can see in the photos.

(Unfortunately, some of us still suffer from stomach and intestinal problems, so we were only four in the first few hours.)

Then we treated many children and adolescents again. Unfortunately, their dental status is usually miserable. They have many severely decayed teeth that usually have to be extracted because the cavities are already advanced and the tooth is painful.

They usually already point out the "culprit".

Since most of the children do not speak French (and only one of us speaks it really well), we have written the necessary words in Malagasy on large sheets of paper on the walls. This way we can communicate to some extent. In addition, a translator (supervisor) is usually present, but she only understands French or at best a few words of English.

The children all come voluntarily and wait patiently outside the door.

The treatment of young children in particular is very exhausting.

You can tell that they lack a stable social environment, which makes it easier to endure dental treatment. Once the anesthesia (injection) is done, it usually gets better.

As a reward, they can then choose something from our toy donation box.

Since we only have a small mobile unit (made in China) and the suction is poor, fillings are particularly difficult to do.

Another difficulty is the increasing temperature in the treatment room as the day progresses. I haven't sweated this much in a long time. When you wear a face mask, double gloves, safety goggles and a headlamp, you get pretty warm.

The sweat just runs down your back. :-)

At noon, we eat simple Malagasy cuisine with the employees of Manda (cook, cleaning staff, supervisors) at one table, such as rice with vegetables and meatballs, noodles with egg, vegetables and fish sauce. Rice water is served to drink.

Fortunately, I haven't had any stomach or intestinal problems. But I also eat very cautiously, i.e. not everything and only cooked or fried food and lots of bananas. Here, bananas are served for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes even for dinner (flambéed).

Unfortunately, there was no water in the hostel today, or only a few drops, and it was also cold. A bucket for scooping is now available in the shower.

The hostel has a nice terrace where you can relax briefly after work before it gets dark quickly.

Today we had extra stress because we had to pay in cash for the next accommodation, including transportation and meals (for 2 weeks).

ATMs are unfortunately not nearby. Also, you don't really want to be on the busy streets in the twilight with 1,600,000 Ariary (400 euros). That's why we, organized by the hostel, took a taxi (old 2CV) to the nearest ATM.

There we had to withdraw money in several installments and raided the ATM.