Tauranga medical aid ship returns home from successful Fiji mission

Dr Ali Estelle and Tauranga nurse Anna Shearer at work in the medical aid ship's dental clinic. Photo / Supplied

A medical aid ship mission to Fiji has proved to be an eye-opening and humbling experience for Tauranga dental experts who volunteered their skills and time.

Bay of Plenty locals helped contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund it.

Tauranga oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Dr Abi Estelle, and local dental assistant, Sharon Dawson, spent two weeks aboard the medical aid ship M/V YWAM Koha, according to a statement about the mission.

The ship is operated by the Tauranga Moana-based Christian humanitarian organisation YWAM Ships Aotearoa (Youth With A Mission).

The former cargo vessel berths in Tauranga and has returned from its first international mission where medical and dental outreach clinics were held in 29 remote Fijian villages.

This inaugural three-month mission was staffed by more than 70 international volunteers.

During the mission, the primary health teams saw 578 patients and the dental teams extracted almost 1000 rotten teeth and restored over 300 more.

Education and prevention were a major focus with toothbrushing demonstrations carried out in village schools and more than 3000 sets of toothbrushes and toothpaste handed out to villagers.

The YWMA Koha medical aid ship has recently returned to Tauranga from Fiji. Photo / Supplied

Dr Estelle recalled one lady who was nervous about having three bad teeth taken out at once.

“We found out later that local anaesthetic isn’t always available so sometimes a toothache would be so bad that the tooth would be extracted without any. It was a strange concept to some that we would give them numbing medicine so that taking out teeth could be painless. That was quite shocking.”

Dr Ali Estelle and her son Owen help distribute oral health packs to Fijian children. Photo / Supplied

In another instance, Dr Estelle and a Tauranga OMS colleague helped treat a stroke patient who was too weak to be transported offshore to the ship’s dental clinic. Instead, they found a camping chair for him to sit in beneath a coconut tree while they extracted his decayed teeth.

Dr Estelle has served on many international aid missions before but this was the first time her husband, Kenny, and five-year-old son Owen had accompanied her.

“Owen helped me in the clinic by wiping the chair down between patients, fetching toothbrushes, and playing with the Fijian kids. It was our first time serving as a family and it made the experience all the richer.”

Tauranga dental nurse Sharon Dawson at work onboard the YWAM Koha in Fiji. Photo / Supplied

But this was the first aid mission Tauranga dental assistant Sharon Dawson, 51, had ever been involved in.

“The people really don’t have anything but they welcome you with open arms and want to share what little they do have with you. There was a huge need for medical and dental care. Some people had been in pain for such a long time, so it was very gratifying to be able to help them.”

She was amazed by how happy and grateful Fijians were to have teeth removed – even prominent front teeth.

“They would walk away with the biggest smile; they were just so happy to be pain-free.”

Dawson has been a dental assistant for more than 30 years and works at Tauranga Dentists.

“Every person on board – from the captain to the cook – was a volunteer which was amazing. The experience has made me realise even more the passion I have to do this sort of work. This trip will be the first of many, I’m sure.”

The YWAM Koha on deployment in Fiji. Photo / Supplied

Managing Director for YWAM Ships Aotearoa, Marty Emmett, told the Bay of Plenty Times about half of the more than 70 volunteers involved in the mission were from the Bay of Plenty. He estimated about 75 per cent of the around $550,000 cost of the deployment came from the Bay of Plenty.

He said in the statement the M/V YWAM Koha planned to return to Fiji for another four-month mission next year.

“What we discovered was significant health needs that are magnified by the issue of isolation.

“The travel and cost required for people in the villages on these islands make it very difficult to access basic primary and oral health services. We also came across a huge lack of health education around diet and oral health care. Many patients had high blood pressure and also high rates of blood sugar. Many issues that are left untreated are deadly but they are easily treated with some basic advice and follow through.”

YWAM was impressed by the dedication and skills of those working within the Fijian health system. However, there was a severe lack of services and resources available to them, he said.

“We found huge success in a ‘treatment while training’ programme that our ship’s medical team came up with. They would connect with the community health workers in each village and help to upskill them in various health screenings like blood pressure readings and blood glucose checks.

“Thanks to the generosity of a couple of Tauranga businessmen, they were able to give each community health worker a blood glucose monitor and automatic blood pressure cuff to take back to their villages to enable them to effectively screen and diagnose basic health issues.”

YWAM hopes to increase access to medical care in remote villages. by training these health workers and equipping them with basic assessment tools.

“We believe this will result in a decreased incidence of non-communicable diseases, reduce significant harm or death related to these illnesses (such as stroke, infection or amputation), and improve the overall health outcomes and quality of life for each person,” Emmett said.

To celebrate the successful aid mission in Fiji and the ship’s return to Tauranga, the public is invited to an evening gathering at the Abundant Church in Judea on November 28 at 7 pm.

“It’s an opportunity for anyone who has, or wants, to play their part in the mission of YWAM Ships Aotearoa to come along and hear stories, meet the core crew and ultimately celebrate all that was achieved,” Emmett said.