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It provides funding for research grants, fellowships and PhD scholarships that seek
preventative and curative solutions for mental illness. The organisation has funded over 93
researchers and numerous Indigenous Health Scholars. Scholarships for rural and medical
nursing students help to overcome barriers to education and promote health services in rural
and remote areas. ARH also engages with various funding partners to support research
projects such as cancer, heart disease, and children's health where traditional funding is not
available.

"Lift the Lid on Mental Illness" campaign is ARH's prominent initiative aimed at raising
awareness about mental health issues and generating funds for research. Mooloolaba Rotary
is proud of its participation in this event and of Vicki Stewart who initiated and continues to
champion this event. Mooloolaba Rotary will hold its "Lift the Lid on Mental Illness" walk
on 27 September this year. This campaign has now been widely embraced by Rotary clubs
across Australia.

Mental Health Research | Australian Rotary Health

Mental Health Research Grants | Australian Rotary Health

Directors’ Reports

International Service Report

A Dental Clinic, a Decade, and the Power of Rotary (By Som-Ling Leung)

Standing in front of the new dental clinic in Kirakira, the provincial capital of Makira in the
Solomon Islands, I found myself reflecting on how long this journey has been. When it
becomes operational, this small building will be the only functioning dental clinic serving a
population of around 50,000 people.

The story began more than a decade ago.
My first visit to Kirakira was in 2013. A doctor who was building a health facility in the far
east of the province through Rotary invited me to help establish a dental clinic there. When I
arrived, I discovered that the provincial capital had been without a dentist for 18 months. No
one wanted to work there.

Before continuing the four-hour boat journey east, I stayed a few days and was asked to see
patients. The conditions quickly explained why dentists struggled to remain. There was no
running water. A bottle sat beside the dental chair, and patients tipped water into their
mouths to rinse. I used the same bottle to wash my hands, repeatedly stepping outside to
refill it.

Most of the equipment did not work. The handpieces were broken, the compressor and
suction were non-functional, the chair would not move, and the overhead light shone
somewhere near the patient’s chest rather than their mouth.

I spent those days extracting teeth and thinking quietly to myself, no wonder no one wants to
work here.

Over the following decade dentists continued to come and go from Kirakira, the longest
stayed less than 18 months. During that time I returned each year with Australian dentists to
run school outreach clinics while we waited for something more permanent.