THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL DENTAL CLINIC AT KOTTIVAKKAM OPENED FOR BUSINESS ON APRIL 1, 2001

How was the project established?

The project is the result of hard work of a number of people in the Rotary Clubs in India and Norway, together with the Friends Association in Norway and the Kottivakkam Dental Centre. A truly co-operative project where all worked together with one goal in mind – establish a dental project to treat the needy that otherwise have no access to dental care. Needless to say, N. Syed was the driving force behind the concept and has been very instrumental in the establishment of the project.

Who receives treatment?

The manner in which the project is run on both a monthly and daily basis is based upon personal experiences and the experiences of other Rotary Volunteers who have served at several dental projects around the world. The idea is straight forward, and it works! Each week the dental volunteers work together with the staff of the project to treat needy patients by setting up a mobile dental unit at schools, institutions, and health camps. We work 4-5 days a week treating poor children at local schools. This treatment is systematic so that all of the children in the school are fully treated before we move on to another school. We concentrate on restorative filling therapy in the carious teeth and scaling. We have begun with dental hygiene instructions to the children.

How do we run the project?

It is our goal that we will be able to recruit a Rotary volunteer dentist each and every month, and the dentist works in close cooperation with the Project Manager Sampath (Sam) Sridhar and the dental team. The schedule for one month is presented to the volunteers upon arrival. We also request that the volunteers take with them some dental materials that we need regularly including syringes and needles, anaesthetics, gloves, masks, filling materials, etc. These materials are often donated by companies, Rotary clubs, etc. For more detailed information concerning material that are needed, please contact the Project Contact Person Nayeem Syed.

We are very pleased that you will be serving with us at Kottivakkam!

Here is some important information and a check list for Rotary volunteers:

· Please take your dental license with you. Our official uniform consists of the projects T-shirts.

· The grant application can be found at the following web site: http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/136en.pdf

· Confirm your volunteer registration. If you are a first time volunteer please get yourself registered. Application No. 284 EN. R.F. http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/284en.pdf

· A letter of invitation from Rotary Club Guindy, Chennai, India will be sent to you via e-mail. The RC Guindy contact Person is: Venugopal, fax: + 91 44 4997121. e-mail: http://www.janakivenugopal@hotmail.com

· Your travel expenditures will be covered by R.F. (R.I.T.S.) R.F. travel service will send you the ticket.

· Please send your travel itinerary by fax to Venugopal (+ 91 44 4997121), and Sampath (Sam) Sridhar (+91 44 44 25271) or via e-mail samsri52@hotmail.com and a member of the Rotary Club Guindy will be at the airport to receive you.

· When you arrive, please pay US$ 1200 (1800 for couples) to Mr. Sampath Sridhar for your boarding, lodging and laundry. Look into the project’s web site: http://www.to/kottivakkaminfo

· Get you travel insurance, vaccinations and prophylactic medicines (especially malaria tablets).

· Never drink the local tap water. Drink only purified bottled water with properly sealed caps (Bisleri). Only eat fruits that can be pealed. Avoid grapes, raw vegetables and lettuce. Boiled vegetables are OK.

· Apply for your Visa at nearest Indian Embassy. Inform them that you are a Rotary volunteer and present the letter of invitation from R.C.Guindy. If you want to travel outside of India during your stay, make sure to get a multiple entry visa.

The Project Manager Sampath Sridhar can be contacted by fax: +91 44 4425271, by telephone +91 44 451 1555, or by e-mail: samsri52@hotmail.com

The postal address for the dental centre is:

Kottivakkam Dental Centre for Acute Help

22/23 Jaganathan St.

Laxman Nagar, Kottivakkam

Chennai-41, Tamil Nadu, India

At the end of your volunteer engagement it is required that you send a final report to TRF. Failure to send a

final report can cause the dental project to be stopped.

If you have any questions please contact me: tel. +47 67 90 29 97, Fax: +47 22 04 26 86 or

famsyed@hotmail.com

Welcome to Kottivakkam!

Yours sincerely,

A. Nayeem Syed

Here are some of the key points for the Volunteer Service Grants program. The award is a flat grant of US$3,000 for an individual or $6,000 for a team of up to five members. A single project site may not benefit from more than one grant award at any given time. An individual volunteer may receive no more than two Volunteer Service Grants per Rotary year. The duration of each grant will be from 30-60 days. The applications for the Volunteer Service Grants have to be submitted to the Rotary Foundation at least 3 months prior to the anticipated date of departure. TRF is very strict with this deadline so we prefer that the applications should be submitted at least 4 months prior to period of service.

If you have not previously read information about how to be a Rotary volunteer, please look into this web-site: http://www.rotary.org/en/ServiceAndFellowship/FundAProject/VolunteerServiceGrants/Pages/ridefault.aspx