WARRNAMBOOL dental nurses Emma Downie and Jordyn McCallum have put their skills to good use on an international scale.
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The two have returned from a stint working on board a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) training and medical vessel.
They were two of 100 international volunteers on board the ship that travelled around the waters off Papua New Guinea.
Both were part of the dental clinic staff.
Ms Downie said as well as treating people who came onto the ship from nearby towns and villages, the dental team also got the chance to visit coastal villages.
“We would go out on little tinnies to the small villages,” Ms Downie said.
“Most of the people we treated had never seen a dentist before so it was all new to them.”
Ms Downie and Ms McCallum’s time on the ship was part of the three-week outreach patrol undertaken by YWAM in Papua New Guinea’s Western Provence.
Over the course of the voyage, 25 villages were reached with staff on the ship working alongside local health services.
In total, 265 patients, including 87 children, were treated at the on-board dental clinic. In all, a total of 477 dental procedures were carried out.
The dental team also delivered 70 health education sessions which focused on oral hygiene.
Ms Downie described her experience as an “eye-opener” and said she enjoyed the opportunity to help improve other people’s lives.
“We did a lot of extractions which in the long term will help relieve a lot of pain these people would have been suffering,” Ms Downie said.
“It was great just being able to help and hopefully improve their quality of life.
”I really enjoyed the education sessions we did. We gave them a tooth brush and tooth paste which we hope they will continue to use and try and keep their teeth in good condition.
“So much was new to the people in the villages who came on the ship. Just little things, some of them had never seen lights or doorknobs before. Where they live is very isolated.”
The work of Ms Downie and Ms McCallum carried on a long tradition of delivering medical services to Papua New Guinea.
YWAM medical ships have been visiting the Western Province since 2011. This longevity has helped develop strong relationships with local communities.
The medical ship that carried Ms Downie and Ms McCallum is now docked in Townsville. It will return to Papua New Guinea for an eight-month deployment in October.
