Special spazio + spadoni Missionary October: S.O.S. Dental Care in Togo
We are in Togo. At the Hopital d’enfants St. Joseph in Bogou in the province of Dapaong founded and run by the Sisters Daughters of Mary Immaculate
The group of nuns operating within the hospital is composed mostly of Togolese and Burkinabées nuns who are led by two Italian sisters: Sister Nazarena, a nurse and hospital director, and Sister Salvatorina, who is the Mother Superior (84 years old). Both have been in the area for nearly 35 years and, in addition to having founded St. Joseph’s Hospital, have over the years made it the reference center for pediatrics and transfusion medicine for the entire Savannah Region (Northern Togo).
In this place, very far from Italy, are on mission, coming from Borgo San Lorenzo (FI) for the Africa Project “S.O.S. ODONTOIATRICO” of the Family Point of Borgo San Lorenzo a dear friend dentist, Pietro, the hygienist Benedetta and my daughter Margherita. Three years ago, thanks to the Borgo San Lorenzo Family Point, a dental-stomatology clinic was set up and the operating block inside the hospital was activated.
Pietro, Benedetta and Margherita went all the way to Togo to bring medical aid to the local population, which, due to difficult environmental conditions lives in a condition of total absence of general medical and odontostomatological prevention.
Peter visits dozens and dozens of them, every day, going to schools and villages in the area. Benedetta helps him while Margherita, who is not a health worker, acts as an interpreter (she is fluent in French that the others do not know) and is a useful support to all the activities (she explains the interventions, assists the children of the mothers to be operated on, distributes the medicines for treatment and explains how to take them, triages those who arrive for the visit, etc…).
To those who present with more important problems they give appointments for the next day at the Hospital’s outpatient clinics (I think they have never seen a dentist in this area, and for free, too). In visiting they also find those who need more serious surgeries (hernias, tumors, etc.) and, after careful evaluation, they work with the Togolese surgeon who operates in the Hospital and often provide the surgery financially.
A small guesthouse will also soon be active within the facility, which will serve to accommodate the mothers of the children undergoing treatment and their families. Thanks to the kitchens of the aforementioned guesthouse, it will be possible not only to prepare and provide adequate food for the hospitalized children, but also to create a refreshment point for the families who often come from far away (the Hospital is located in an isolated area where there are no facilities or stores).
I also tell you that in their suitcases they brought over 150 kg of medicines (which they will leave at the hospital), many toothbrushes and toothpastes, in the hope that they will get into the habit of using them regularly.
To conclude: also from Pietro, Benedetta and Margherita comes the thanks to an “army of good” (the invaluable Sisters !!!!) who without proclamations, in the silence of humble and generous service, in the most remote places of the world work tirelessly in the service of the Gospel of Jesus, practicing the Works of Mercy daily.
And like the Sisters neither Peter, Benedetta and Margaret seek thanks or praise. They know very well why they do it. They operate thanks to the support of the Family Point of Borgo San Lorenzo, that of some friends in the village, and they self-finance themselves with a few dinners. They hope to be able to go back to Togo again, bringing along some of Pietro’s surgeon friends, and be able to operate on some more seriously ill patients unable to meet any expenses.
Let us hope that they can do this to bring relief to a population rich with children who, despite the lack of almost everything, rejoice and smile at life.
God’s mercy is in action. Always!
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- Margherita Banchi