Urgent Appeal for Mobile Dental Clinic in Gaza

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, is appealing for more money to keep a mobile dental clinic on the roads of troubled Gaza, as the vital service continues to face the danger of collapsing following the recent violence in the area and lack of funds.

The mobile clinic, which has been funded by donations to the Church in Wales since 2000, travels around Gaza embossed with Welsh flags, treating more than 3,500 people a year who have little access to any health care facilities. It costs £15,000 a year to run but that sum looks set to rise as tension in the area grows and fuel costs soar.

Philip Morris, Archdeacon of Margam, oversees the funding of the mobile clinic and has visited it several times. He says that Gaza is a "land in chaos" and that the cycle of violence endured by its citizens over decades has been "horrific".

In Gaza, many inhabitants rely on local and international non-governmental organisations for basic health, education and occupational services.

The second largest NGO working in the largely Muslim Gaza is the Christian Near East Council of Churches, which runs family health clinics, vocational training centres, self-help co-operatives and the mobile dental clinic, funded solely by the Church in Wales.

"The dental clinic van, with its Welsh red-dragon stickers, is a familiar sight in Gaza City, and wherever it parks, men, women and children queue up outside it for treatment," says Morris.

In 2006, 3,508 people were examined by the dental clinic staff, and only 12 did not need any treatment. In addition babies and pregnant women were checked at the family health centres. All examinations, treatments and medicines are provided free of charge, thanks to donations from churches and individuals across Wales.

On the initiative of Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Morris led a small group from the Church in Wales on a visit to the Holy Land in 1999 to identify projects which could be funded by the churches in Wales as part of its Millennium pledge to help those living in hopeless poverty or under the threat of constant violence and oppression.

The aim was to assist people in all parts of the world, but to start in the land of Jesus' birth to mark his 2000th birthday. The Jubilee Fund was set up and has since funded projects in Latin America, many parts of Africa and in China.

On visiting Gaza, the Welsh group discovered the Mercedes van, fully equipped as a dental clinic, but mothballed as the NECC did not have the funds to operate it. The Church in Wales made a commitment to completely fund the running of the dental clinic, to pay the salary of the dentist and nurse-driver, and to enable patients to be treated free of charge. Over the last seven years the Church in Wales has raised £150,000 for the service.

Constantine Dabbagh, the Executive Secretary of the Near East Council of Churches in Gaza, says the escalating conflict in the region over the past week has made the role of the clinic and health centres more important than ever.

"There is no governmental dental programme in Gaza, and very little attention has been paid by people to the proper care of their teeth," he reveals. "We feel that as part of our health care, we should continue to provide dental facilities. The people of Gaza are very appreciative and thankful to the people of Wales for making the mobile dental clinic's services available to the poorest in out communities."

"But it is getting harder," Dabbagh continues, however, telling how the recent conflict has hampered the dental clinic in its service to the people in Gaza. "The situation here has been really awful and horrible lately. We, the Palestinians, are encountering difficulties as a result of the conflict between the two main rival factions."

He says that all staff members are safe and affirms that they continued to render services during the period of conflict.

Although conflict has died down, the situation for many remains difficult: "People are living under extreme hardship and poverty. They feel isolated, as if they are living in a big prison," he shares. "Under these conditions, we expect more people to turn to extremism which will result in the end in encountering more violence and instability, not only in Gaza Strip but also in the region at large.

"The work of the NECC brings Christian witness and hope to Gaza, and therefore has credibility. Muslims have great faith in the NECC. It is an injection of hope - touching people, healing them and giving them hope."

More donations from the people of Wales are desperately needed to ensure the Gaza Dental Clinic can continue to be funded.

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, says: "I have had two opportunities to see the Gaza Mobile Dental Clinic in operation, and been able to witness the way in which cash generously donated by members of the Church in Wales has made a real practical difference to the lives of the people of Gaza.

"With conditions in the area becoming more fraught by the day, it is more important than ever that we continue to support the Dental Clinic Fund, despite the fantastic sum raised so far. Apart from providing practical healthcare to people in great need, it gives them some sense of stability and hope in an otherwise chaotic landscape."

He concludes: "I therefore appeal to the people of Wales to continue to support the Fund, and to show that we care for ordinary people and families caught up in such awful terror and violence."