Tourism, Temples and Tonle Sap

Our trip is coming to an end! For the past few days we have been tourists in Siem Reap - a great way to finish our dental volunteering trip. I visited Siem Reap two years ago on my dental elective, so it was nice to come back and see some familiar surroundings.

I have been feeling quite poorly since we've been here, having come down with a nasty cold since finishing our dental volunteering (typical!) So I was very un-energetic when it came to sightseeing (although I could probably win a competition for the loudest and most frequent nose blowing).

During our stay in Siem Reap, we visited the markets and invested in some much needed souvenirs. The markets are a funny place, you don't have to say a single word for the seller to just have a monologue conversation and immediately offer you a discounted price.

We also visited the floating villages on Tonle Sap lake, where our boat driver did a good job of non-stop talking. Quite educational though I guess. In the evening we climbed a massive hill at the Angkor temples (well it seemed massive because I was struggling a bit), to watch the sunset over Cambodia.

This morning we woke up at 4.30am to catch the sun rising over Ta Prohm, the "tomb raider" temple, where the jungle is regaining control of the land (the trees are interwoven between and around the stone temple walls, as their branches and roots begin to take over the man-made feature). This remains my favourite temple and today the surreal tranquillity made it the perfect place to watch the sunrise. The light glistening through the trees and over the towers was most beautiful. Most tourists go to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise, but I think we made the right choice going somewhere much quieter, with only a few other people around. We then went on to Angkor Thom, the elephant terrace and Bayon. And finally Angkor Wat, where we hired a tour guide to drone on at us with his monotone speech - no he was good really, just funny because you could tell he had said the same thing about five times already that morning. We finished at around midday, by which time we were all exhausted and in need of some lunch. Having been to pub street (quite famous if you've ever been to Siem Reap) for some lunch, half of the group returned to the makets whilst a few of us visited a massage and spa parlour. The massage was a-mazing, feeling very relaxed now and a little bit better since this morning (also very drugged up on cold remedies).

Tomorrow we are heading home, so this will probably be my last blog post. Can I just say another very big and sincere thank you to everyone who donated to this trip, it really has made a huge difference to the lives of Cambodian children and adults in need of dental treatment.

Over and out, for now ;-)

Kampongcham dental outreach

For the past few days we have been in Kampongcham, a peaceful Cambodian province where we met the adorable Dr Nhep and her equally adorable husband.  Dr Nhep runs dental outreach clinics in rural villages about an hour car drive outside Kampongcham. I was surprised when she told me she normally runs these clinics single handedly, with only a few students to assist her (whom she teaches at the same time), working all day with no lunch break. AND she does it out of her own kind will, she doesn't get paid for it. What an amazing woman! I hope we have eased her work load during our visit. It has been an exciting contrast from the clinics in Phnom Penh.

Here we were working outside houses on stilts, and the heat was very noticeable even in the shade. The patient dental chairs were constructed from a plastic chair with a broom handle tied to the back of it, and a sponge on the broom for a headrest. The decon room was set up "round the back", with multiple washing up bowls and a pressure cooker.

Despite the very basic set up, we managed to do all the necessary treatment. Most patients arrived in pain and required either extractions or fillings. We had no drill, so fillings were limited to ART with GIC or IRM*. As soon as one patient left the chair, another one leaped into it, like children waiting for their turn at the swing park.

We rattled through about 55 patients on the first morning and had another non-stop session today. Dr Nhep seems very grateful for our help, continually thanking us for coming to help the Cambodian people. Taking team photos was a feat in itself - we must have stood with a dozen different combinations of people, whilst everyone took a photo on each camera (the Cambodian team were very "snap-happy").

Dr Nhep and her husband are very hospitable and have shown us the best places for lunch and dinner during our stay. (I'm just not too keen on chicken feet floating around in the soup, but hey what do I know?!) No, really we have been treated like kings and queens during our visit to Kampongcham.

So although it has been a fleeting visit, we are all very tired from the heavy work load and......interesting conditions (with the chairs so low down I adopted a 'lunge' type position for upper extractions - although today just gave in and knelt down to extract upper 6 roots.)

Tomorrow we are travelling to Siem Reap for the last part of our trip. It will be great going back there (the last time I went was two years ago - you can check out my other blog). But for this evening, we will be eating out with the lovely Dr Nhep and husband for the last time.

*ART - atraumatic restorative technique - partial removal of caries followed by restoration with GIC
GIC - glass iomomer cement
IRM - intermediate restorive material - a zinc oxide eugenol based material

Makeshift dental chair

Coconut water

Looking quizzically at todays lunch

Activity of the day: feeding the children in the slums. Feeling of the day: happy. Food of the week: rice.

Please no more rice! It's good but i think we're getting a bit rice-d out. I've managed to avoid it today, but no doubt I'll find some on my plate tomorrow.

Anyway on with the update. This week the dentaid team having been working alongside one-2-one, a charity based in Phnom Penh, offering medical and dental treatment to local Cambodians. This week we have volunteered in their mobile dental clinic, which was temporarily set up in a local church. They had an efficient triage system where the Cambodian dentists examined the patients on arrival, before sending them to us for their treatment. Last time I was in Cambodia, I enjoyed learning the local language. This time, I have learned many more phrases, and have been practising on everyone I see, at the expense of being laughed at - although I am reassured they are laughing because my "accent is so good". We treated about 50-60 patients each day. Fillings, fissure sealants, extractions and applying SDF* was carried out. There are four dentists, one dental therapist and one dental nurse in team dentaid.

Today we had the opportunity to assist one-2-one with their daily food distribution at one of the slums. I dished out a large container of rice to dozens of hungry children, who took it to their picnic area along with their meat and vegetables. It was like the feeding of the five thousand!

This afternoon we experienced some Cambodian culture and visited the local markets, getting our bartering skills up to scratch.

The Cambodian traffic is something to be reckoned with - every time we go out, it's like playing crazy taxi. There doesn't seem to be any rules, people drive on whatever side of the road they fancy, and there are no right of ways. However, it seems that everyone has a mutual respect for fellow drivers, and amazingly the traffic merges and blends in harmony, like a large scale ants nest.

Tomorrow we are visiting two universities to deliver lectures and help in clinics. My lecture is on the basic techniques of oral surgery.

My feeling of the day is happy. This appears a boring and unimaginative emotion to choose. On the whole, 2015 has been a very happy year for me. But happiness is not always readily available, so I might as well embrace it whilst I can, hence it being the feeling of the day. Spending time with an extraordinary team of people who are passionate about the same thing, really makes me happy. Ordinarily that applies to being with my friends at church.  But this week it applies to the dentaid team in Cambodia.  Thanks team dentaid-cambodia-nov2015 :-)

Happy Friday :-) xx

*SDF - silver diamine fluoride. Applied to unrestorable carious teeth to arrest caries, when extractions are contraindicated.

Activity of the day: long haul flight. Feeling of the day: jet lag. Moment of the day: dancing in the rain. Food of the day: jackfruit.

Hello. I have safely arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia! Along with six other jet lagged dentaid volunteers. An early start on Saturday morning quickly merged into a new day as we crossed over time barriers and into new parts of the world. The flight went surprisly quickly despite the lack of sleep. We are staying in a family home of the charity "one-2-one" whom we'll be working with out here.

We decided to go for a little walk to stay awake during the afternoon, which ended up with us getting caught in a very heavy rain/lightening/thunderstorm. We were all drenched on returning.

Jackfruit is my food of the day. I don't think I've ever tried it before. It was a lovely sweet finish to a delicious meal cooked by our hosts.

Half way through writing this I fell asleep, so we are now into Monday! Today is a national holiday, so we start work tomorrow. This morning we visited the killing fields. I won't say much because it was a very harrowing experience, and just thinking about it saddens me.

So this afternoon we are having a break for lunch, whilst making the most of any WiFi we can find - to keep in touch wiyh family and friends. And then exploring the city some more.

Bye for now!

#I'dratherberunning

Three weeks to go! I cannot believe how quickly this has come round.

A couple of weeks ago I had one of the best days yet - on Sunday the 4th October I ran 26.2 miles at the Bournemouth marathon. It was a perfect day for running - clear blue skies, warm and dry - so beautiful to run through the town I grew up in, and along the stunning coastline. I think I enjoyed this marathon even more than the London! My parents and youngest sister came to support me at regular mile points -helping me keep focus as to when I'd next see them. It was a lot more hilly than I had anticipated, but I didn't mind that, however I had to slow right down at about mile 20 as got seriously worried my heart may give way, I just focused on finishing the race alive, and without having a heart attack. It was the longest few miles of my life, until ......

.......a couple of miles to go, where the crowds were few, and motivation was dying, my uncle and aunty came running towards me with a fresh burst of energy and enthusiasm. They ran alongside me and I found myself picking up speed to keep up with them. This was honestly the best thing that happened throughout the race. They stayed with me, encouraging me and chatting and making me laugh, right til the crowds picked up again - by which time I could keep up the pace as the finish line was in sight.

I finished the race (alive) in 4h23m - knocking off 9 minutes from my London marathon time. So pleased.

After the race, my family met me in the runners village, where it was nice to catch up and treat myself to a massage! Then we all relaxed together over a late lunch and family time :-) I like those kind of days. Brilliant :-)

I did not however enjoy the following days quite so much, I wasn't stiff or achy as much as I could have been, but I had to go straight back to work the day after, to do a long twelve day shift, with six 13 hour days on call #I'dratherberunning

Can I just say a very sincere thank you to everyone who sponsored me for the two marathons I ran this year, and everyone who has donated to the Cambodia dentaid trip in general. You helped me raise £2951.15 !!!!!!!

So in three weeks I will be travelling to Cambodia to volunteer with the charities dentaid and one-2-one. We will be providing dental treatment to those less fortunate than ourselves - who cannot access basic healthcare where they live. The money you helped me raise will go towards this trip, helping about 1000 Cambodians to receive pain relieving dental treatment - something we all to often take for granted.

Vaccination boosters done this morning. Antimalarial tablets bought last week. Head torch (lack of electricity in outreach clinics in Cambodia) delivered. Dental masks ordered. But still a few bits to get sorted. Eg donations of dental materials and equipment to take with us.........

Not long to go now!

Bournemouth Marathon Festival

2015 is a good year for running!

I shall be running another marathon in October, this time along the sunny seafront of Bournemouth and Boscombe Beaches. So the long-runs have recommenced, after a bit of a break since the London Marathon. 

I got withdrawal symptoms pretty quickly after the London Marathon - doing gym classes and weights during the week is great fun and I love it, but I missed my long-runs at the weekend, so needed to sign up for another marathon. Yay - happy Jess :-) I will be running for Dentaid again - to raise funds for my trip in November.

There's less than five months until I return to Cambodia, to provide pain-relieving dental treatment to those who have no access to it. This is a cause very close to my heart, having been to Cambodia before, during my dental elective. Volunteering in an impoverished country and using my skills to help people is such a rewarding experience.

I will be volunteering with the dental charity 'Dentaid' (http://www.dentaid.org), who send volunteers all over the world to provide safe dental treatment to those in need. Countries visited include: Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Romania, Timor Leste, and of course Cambodia!

The generous donations from the public allow Dentists to provide safe and effective treatment in these countries. To donate for my Cambodia trip, please follow this link: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/jessicascott1 

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, both online and offline - you have helped raise over £1600! However, there's still a way to go, to reach my target of £2500.

Please please please click on the link, it only takes a few minutes, and you will help make a global difference to the worldwide smiles!! 

Thank you, 

Jess x

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/jessicascott1 

London Marathon Thank You

It's been just over a week since I completed the Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 in 4hrs 32mins. On the 26th April, I took part in one of the world's greatest races in an effort to raise funds for the Dentaid Cambodia Mission Trip 2015...........


Dentaid http://www.dentaid.org/ is a charity dedicated to providing vital, pain relieving dental care in the most remote and disadvantaged parts of the world. Dentaid’s vision is a world in which everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a healthy smile, with access to safe, effective and affordable oral health care. It will be a two week trip, offering dental care in orphanages, schools and prisons in Phnom Penh and outlying rural areas.

I have always been a keen runner, and have completed a couple of 10K and half marathon races. But the London Marathon was my longest race yet! I got a place through the ballot entry and was actually supposed to be running in 2014. However, due to bad timing I deferred my entry to 2015. 

I started increasing my training runs in January, with my friend Lizzie (also doing the London Marathon). I really loved training for this event as it kept my mind and body occupied - I had something significant to aim for and tailored my daily regime to accomplish it. I learned to train, rest, eat and recover properly.

Since doing my last half marathon, I developed a dodgy "runner's knee" and was worried it would get worse with marathon training. But I owe a huge thanks to my physio who helped me completely change the way I run. Changing my running style not only improved my knees, it also made me run more efficiently (there was also some serious calf muscle hypertrophy going on too)! So with a new pair of trainers at the ready, I was excited to run run run!! 

During training I reached 21 miles on my long runs (the advice is not to go beyond this). Some runs were glorious and beautiful, complimented with the spring sunshine, whilst others were wet and damp. But I loved every single one. I learned to eat lots of good things like eggs, fish and cheese for protein to recover from the long runs. Discovering protein shakes was one of the greatest things ever. And I learned to "carb-up" before the long runs (something I would have found impossibly scary to do not so long ago) - energy gels were a blessing whilst running for 3hrs+. Cross-training is also important when training for a marathon, and I continued going to gym classes like body-pump, step and spinning.

On the 25th April, Lizzie and I caught the train and tube to London ExCel, where the Virgin Money London Marathon exhibition was held. We collected our running numbers and timing chips. The following morning, I caught the train to the "blue start" at Greenwich Park, where over 37,000 competitors gathered to welcome the 35th anniversary of London's greatest run! The weather was perfect for running - drizzling whilst we waited but then cool and dry once we started - couldn't have asked for anything better!

I started the run well, but about 4 miles in began to get cramp in my foot - that had never happened in training! At about 18 miles I began feeling a bit sick/faint but was determined to get to the finish line alive! I did not stop. Not once. I just kept running. The crowds of people shouting my name from the side lines really helped me keep going. I must have looked terrible, but the spectators kept telling me I was 'looking good'. Aww bless. I was relieved to see my friends at mile 23, as I began to think I'd missed them. I felt so special they all came to support me. My family also came and supported me at three points - they even had to run a mile short-cut to reach me in time between mile 9 and 11.

Is there such thing as a sprint finish in a marathon? As a friend reassured me: "if you could sprint finish, then you weren't running fast enough for the rest of it." But I did pick up the pace v.slightly towards the finish, and once I crossed the line, nearly fell over as my legs wanted to keep going!

The finish line greeted me with a finishers medal, a goody bag and a post-run photo! I met my friends and family at the runners meet and greet area, and enjoyed catching up over a well-deserved picnic :-)

I was surprisingly not aching at all the following day, or week! I must have walked it off afterwards! But I still treated myself to a sports massage, as you do.

I would like to thank everyone who has sponsored me for this run, and donated to this cause - I have raised just over £1000 so far. My target is £2500, so I still have a little way to go. If you are reading this and would like to donate to the Dentaid Cambodia Trip, please visit my donation page at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/jessicascott1 - I am extremely grateful for every pound donated!

Thank you all again, your support means the world to me :-) 

Jess xxx