Battle of The Blogside

This past Tuesday at the Gasworks had me again working with Jennifer the resident dentist. As we sat talking over some tea in the café , I learned a little bit more about what exactly her role is within the organization. She is tasked with going out into the community to speak about dental hygiene. I was slightly confused the last time I was with her because her office looks like a dental operating room and though it is fully functional it has become more of esthetic feature and a jumping off point for her work within the community. Sometimes she brings younger children in from the Gail school or the preschool and puts them in the chair to get them used to being in a dentist office so they are not afraid when they go for real.

What I learned from our talk was that the Health Forum (or Foram Slainte for the Irish speakers) in combination with a group from the Old Library Trust ( another community center similar to the Gasworks based in the Creggan) are launching a new campaign called “ Sweet Smile” . This is a new community initiative to teach children about 1. Dental health and 2. How diet plays a major part of that. The slogan for the campaign is “ Fizzy drinks and sweets ruin your teeth” and has a picture of a child. This is also a major advertising message that is going to be displayed all over the city, especially within the more depressed areas. The campaign includes a large sign to be displayed at the Derry CityFootball Club field.

So back to my day, we were headed to a kick off party at the Long Tower Community Center and Derry City Football field. The event started on the Derry Football Club’s field which is located adjacent to the Long Tower Community Center, a partnership with the two community groups to get the word out about dental hygiene. Only about ten minutes or so was spent at the field to take some pictures with the new mayor (not sure who he is but I would assume he was Catholic since we were in the Brandywell) and a couple of the Derry City players around a new sign that will be displayed in the Stadium as part of the advertising campaign.

The second part of the event took place within the Long Tower Community Center and was an event for the kids. Children were invited from different schools all over the Bogside and Brandywell, there were about 50 kids in attendance. Several different community groups that are working together on this project set up tables and displays, all having to do with eating right and taking care of their teeth.

Jennifer’s display included soda cans and various candies and energy drinks with a large label on each displaying how many teaspoons of sugar were in each of the items. The display also had a lot of models of various teeth and gum disorders. Her goal was to advocate parents taking their children to the dentist every six months to keep up with their oral health. The children were also treated to live music from a singer with an acoustic guitar. Healthy sugar free lunches were provided by the people from Gasworks café.

I think that this event was really a good idea because there definitely is an understanding within the community that now is the time to address health issues like this , and they are putting a lot of time and effort into improving the quality of life of the people who live in these communities