INTER VIEW
HUMANITARIAN DENTISTRY
DENTAL DUO LEAVE DUNOON FOR MALAWI TO SHARE THEIR EXPERTISE AFTER A TRIP TO THE COUNTRY TUGGED ON THEIR HEART STRINGS
D
unoon dentists Nigel and Vicky Milne set up Smileawi in 2012 after experiencing firsthand the dental services, or lack of, in the southeast African country. Here, Nigel
explains how the project has grown and how they are now ready to become a charity in their own right.
Can you give us an outline of your careers so far I graduated in 1986 from Glasgow, Vicky in 1988. I have been a general dental practitioner since then, and moved to Dunoon in 1991, becoming a partner in 1992. Sadly, my partner Robin Brechin died in a boating accident in 2005, so
since 2006 Vicky and I have been partners. Like me, she has been a general dental practitioner. In 2006, we both became VT trainers and in 2010 I became a VT adviser. I am currently the adviser for the West Block VT scheme. Vicky and I met at university and were married in 1986. We have four grown up children who have all left home.
How did Smileawi start? Some years ago I was chatting to my patient John Challis, who told me his son, who I knew well, had designed and built a dental surgery in Malawi. He said that he needed Vicky and I to go out there to see
it and give him some advice on the running of it etc. He said this tongue in cheek, if you’ll excuse the dental pun. However, Vicky and I were inter-
ested in carrying out some charity work and had looked at organisa- tions like Bridge2Aid and Dentaid. However, we felt that the time was not quite right for our family yet as our youngest was still at school. About a year later, our youngest son was accepted for a place at Glasgow University, so we approached John and said we would be free to go out later in the year. With frightening speed, our flights were booked and we were on our way, having let our son Ben have four days to settle into university life!
Te full team including our Malawian interpreters SCO TTISH DENT AL 28
What was the motivation for starting a charity rather than working with an existing charity? Currently, we are not our own charity, we actually sit under the umbrella of the charity of which John Challis and his wife Sue are trustees, the Raven Trust. Te Raven Trust is a charity which provides help for communities in Malawi, they arrange for the trans- port of materials, manage projects and carry out training. Tey will this year send out their 100th container load of donated items.
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