Project Update: April 2008

Dr Hasan Sarwar visited Bangladesh in February for two weeks and with the help of his Bangladeshi friends completed 22 cases at a total cost of $3,344.00. This brings the total from the Aussi Bangla Smile funds to 115 new happy smiles.
Dr Sarwar also revisited some of our patients from October 2007. They are all very pleased with their new smiles and we have posted some photographs.

The previously planned mission in October this year has had to be postponed due to the upcoming elections in Bangladesh. The team all have holidays booked for March 2009, taking off on March 11 and returning on March 29. The team consists of six nursing staff, Judy Barlow, Angela Brady and Barbara Mitchell from the last team and welcoming Julie Hammond, Heike De Neef and Lorraine Clarkstone to our next trip. Erica Agius is the lovely anaesthetist joining us.

We intend to spend three days on the Impact Jibon Tari Hospital ship, two days at Square Hospital and five days at Dhaka Community Hospital. Many of the surgical personnel who joined us previously are anxious to help again this trip. Dhaka Community Hospital had so many enquiries after our last trip they have set up their own scheme to continue the work

Thanks to many generous people for their donations following Anna Coren’s Today Tonight program we are well on the way to funding the project in March. Thanks also to the Rotary Club of Nepean and RAWCS who continue to give us moral and practical support and forward receipts for donations.

Barbara Mitchell
The Aussi Bangla Smile Team.