Multinational logistics and haulage company, Jonmoore International (JMI), has supported a four-day mobile dental screening and outreach for residents of four communities in the Volta Region as part of activities lined up to mark the company’s 20th anniversary celebrations in the country.
The outreach project was the company’s corporate social responsibility intervention as a way of giving back to society and it aligns with one of its core focus areas of health and well-being.
Scores of people from the beneficiary communities namely Ve-Kolenu, Hohoe, Tsito and Abutia, with various degrees of dental problems were screened and treated free of charge and were also sensitized on the need to practice good oral hygiene.
Corporate Manager and Personal Assistant to the CEO, Sandra Amma Abrokwah, shared with the B&FT the inspiration behind the project: “Jonmoore International turns 20 years and as part of activities to celebrate the significant milestone, we intend to embark on a series of activities; this dental screening exercise is part of the outlined projects to mark our grand occasion.
As a company, our CSR objectives are in the areas of health and well-being; education and mentoring; as well as infrastructural development. We chose to embark on this exercise because it falls within the company’s specified areas for its corporate social responsibility interventions.”
Significantly, over 36 children from the Eugemot Orphanage—which is under the management of the Eugemot Foundation and Jonmoore’s key corporate social responsibility project—were also treated by the dental team in addition to the numerous townspeople who benefited from the four-day mobile dental outreach.
Ms. Abrokwah added: “We are supporting the dental team to make sure that children from the orphanage and the schools, as well as surrounding communities also benefit from this dental outreach. Jonmoore believes in giving back to the society and it is committed and remains focused on elevating the socio-economic development of the people of this country.
This is just one-leg of planned activities and we are proud to be part of this team in helping the society.”
Jonmoore’s CSR focuses on a continuing commitment to contribute to the socio-economic development and improving the quality of life the local community and community it operates in a highly ethical manner.
With Eugemot Foundation as a CSR project, Jonmoore supports the Eugemot Orphanage with quarterly food supplies to meet their upkeep and well-being. The company also has an educational trust in place that supports persons from the orphanage at the tertiary education level.
Founder of the Eugemot Foundation, Madam Eugenia Motogbe, in an interview with the B&FT expressed her appreciation to the members of the dental team and Jonmoore International for their continuous show of love towards the inmates of Peggy Good School and the Eugemot Foundation.
She said: “We appreciate them so much; Jonmoore International are like our fathers and mother. They have been taking care of school fees, clothing and the upkeep of the children since 2008.
With this dental outreach, the kids have been educated on the need to keep their teeth clean always while those with problems have been screened and treated.”
In appealing for more of such kind gestures, she added: “We want people to come to emulate the Jonmoore example and come to our aid; for instance, we need funding to take care of children from the orphanage who are now in tertiary education and new materials for those who are yet to start their secondary education.”
Jonmoore supported this dental outreach project which was facilitated with logistical support from the Knight Smile Dental, whose mobile dentistry van was used for the four-day exercise, and a team of dentists belonging to the Ghana Doctors and Dentists Association based in the United Kingdom.
Leader of the team and Founder of Knight Smile Dental, George Nana Brown, highlighted the enthusiasm of the delegation to be part of the project, which he said, was a way of raising awareness and setting the pace for other Ghanaian dentists in the diaspora to emulate.
He said: “We are passionate about dentistry so we embarked on this outreach for the love of the work and to show others that it is worth sharing and extending a hand to save the dental situation in the country instead waiting on NGOs to push that course. There are a lot of Ghanaian dentists in the diaspora and want to use this platform to set an example for others to join the course and to show them the worth of spending their own money to do something like this.”
Dr. Brown also indicated that Ghana has not got a lot of dentist coupled with the poor infrastructure and for that matter, interventions such as the four-day outreach will go a long way to help the nation.
“Dentistry hasn’t got its right place and therefore its proper benefits to our health has been missed.
The ultimate goal is to get people to be dentally aware because the level is very poor in the country, looking at the economic status and the diet issues that such a status comes with,” he further noted.
A dental surgeon with the team, Dr. Malcom Farr advised on the need for people to practice preventive oral care which, he said, saves money and time as well as the total wellbeing of an individual.
He noted: “Education is the key to preventing the dental crisis as it is cost-effective compared to curative; the most important thing is prevention; that is always the first step. We have started talking about how to recognise dental problems earlier and resort to proper treatment.”
