Oral Health Across Nations
Bangalore, India
Site Coordinator: Archana Nadig
Contact Information: Archana_Nadig@hsdm.harvard.edu
Contact Information: Archana_Nadig@hsdm.harvard.edu
The Bala Mano Vikasa Kendra School, located in Bangalore, India is a free school for mentally challenged children between the ages of 4 and 20. Dedicated teachers and therapists help these children to learn self-care skills and help them to become well-adjusted members of society by giving each child special attention based on their individual needs. As a volunteer at this school, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with these children and teach them about proper dental care. While doing so, I discovered that the majority of these children had never been exposed to a dentist and had very little knowledge about oral hygiene. In fact, many of them did not even own a toothbrush – an item that many people take for granted. Oral Health Across Nations is a unique program that will not only donate oral hygiene products to these children, but will also help to spread oral health awareness, making a difference person by person.
