We are getting incredibly excited for our trip to Uganda!  We leave in just 10 days, and it feels like that cannot come soon enough.  We are eager to arrive in Uganda and meet all of the wonderful people we have been in contact without through this last semester.  To give you a more in-depth idea as to what we will be doing on our trip - here is our itinerary:

We will arrive in Kampala, Uganda on July 17th EARLY in the morning, have a few minutes to refresh and collect ourselves after a long journey (complete with an almost 10 hour lay-over in Cairo) and then head to Makerere University's College of Health Sciences.  We will be paired with senior dental students and will work/shadow in their student clinics.  On Friday, we will be joined by UNC adjunct faculty member, Dr. Mikie Farmer (pictured below with the team), he will give a lecture to the faculty and students at Makerere University on a variety of exciting subjects (dental decay in relation to heart disease, injection methods, aesthetic dentistry, etc). 

On Saturday morning, we will be met by the Friars of the Greyfriars Mission Uganda, who will drive with us to Kakooge in the Nakasongola District.  We will have Sunday to recover from our travels and get acquainted and prepared - and on Monday we will travel to our first village to provide oral hygeine education and supplies, get an idea of the dental problems that are most prominent for those in the Nakasongola district, and provide care to as many children and families as possible.  We will spend the next few days doing the same in several surrounding villages.  The Uganda Dental Association has even been so welcoming as to send additional dentists and dental students to help us during this week!

Later in the week, we will head back to Kampala and surrounding areas to do some sightseeing, volunteer with other organizations, and hopefully make a visit to the US Embassy who's ambassador is a UNC graduate! 

It is hard for all of us to comprehend how close the trip is - we have spent so much time, and effort planning, fundraising and establishing connections between UNC and our contacts in Uganda.  Below are some images from one of our fundraising events at the North Carolina Dental Society meeting this semester. 



Our Fundraising Table - we still have shirts for sale! :)



The Team:  Marc, Dan, Katie, and Dr. Farmer

We will do our best to update this blog as often as possible during our trip and after.  Our goal is to make this outreach program a huge success that continues on at UNC long after we graduate and are able to attend as dentists like Dr. Farmer has done for us!  With the dentist to patient ratio in Uganda being 1:165,000 and access to care being incredibly low - we want to provide as much education and relief as possible and help make a change in future. 

Thank you to those of you who have supported, and continue to support our efforts- this would truly not be possible with you!  If you are interested in learning more about the trip, please email khpayne@dentistry.unc.edu!  If you would like to purchase a T-Shirt or make a monetary donation - use the links on the right!