A Brighter Future 18 Jun 2009
Moana Burt
Giving, said the late Sir Edmund Hillary, is something that we’re all simply going to have to get used to.It’s a pragmatic yet challenging philosophy, one that has now inspired a new generation of Kiwi charitable work in the Everest region.
Moana Burt talks to Dr Julian Haszard about SmileHigh, a dental health foundation aiming to improve the quality of life for Nepalese children.
“In the 21st century the challenges facing us are not going to be in the physical field, they are going to be in the field of human relations. People are going to have to get used to giving something – perhaps time, perhaps money – to make the world a better place.”
SmileHigh founder Julian Haszard is recalling a speech made by Sir Edmund Hillary, the Auckland beekeeper who in 1953, together with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first man to reach the summit of Everest, later dedicating his life to helping local people of the region.
Seated with Haszard a smart West London cafe, we’re a long way in both miles and preoccupations from the rugged upper valleys of the Himalayas. Outside, headlines and shop fronts are consumed by the credit crunch and consumer frenzy of Christmas, and Hillary’s words are a humbling reminder of those who choose to go beyond their own borders.
How best to give back to the world is clearly something Haszard, a 31-year-old dentist originally from New Plymouth, has given a great deal of thought to.
With so many charities focused on the everyday basics – food, shelter, and life-threatening disease prevention, it could be easy to dismiss dental care as further down the line of essentials. But dental health extends far beyond the Western desire for a set of pearly whites.
“It reality it is one of the biggest health problems,” says Haszard. “While (dental decay) is not killing people, it can have a really morbid effect on their lives.”
The main reason is the significant downstream effects on overall health, he explains. Maintaining good dental health plays the greatest role at school age, where the right diet is important for setting up health for life.
Four times a year team of dental therapists, under the guidance of Dr Mingma Nuru Sherpa, a Nepalese dentist, depart from SmileHigh’s Kathmandu office to visit the upper valleys of the Himalayas. Here, in the thin air of villages accessible only by foot, the team set up makeshift clinics in local schools.
“By going into schools we see 95 percent of the local children, so we can be sure no-one’s falling through the cracks and not getting our message,” explains Haszard. “We talk about good dental hygiene and diet, give each child a toothbrush and toothpaste and an examination. It is basic dental work with a focus on saving teeth.”
Since 2004 the programme has seen over 500 children annually in the Khumbu Valley, the gateway to Mount Everest. Complex cases are referred to Mingma’s Kathmandu clinic, with transport provided by SmileHigh. The project plans to continue extending its reach, this year planning to see 400 children in Langtang, an impoverished area just one hours’ drive from Nepal.
The origins of Smile High can also be found high in the Himalayas. In January 2003, Haszard travelled to the Everest region to climb Cho Oyo, the sixth highest mountain in the world at 8201m. A qualified dentist, the young climber was eager to do some charitable work when in the region and was put in touch with Mingma, with whom he travelled to local villages doing basic dental treatments.
During his four weeks in the area Haszard observed the magnitude of serious dental decay. A combination of lack of fluoridation, dental services, and education was evident, issues made significantly more acute by the influx of refined sugar, via Western trekkers, into the region - a negative impact of the mountain tourism that forms the basis of the local economy. Both he and Mingma could see the challenge ahead lie in educating the Sherpa people about the link between diet and decay.
After summiting Cho Oyo, Haszard made a commitment to Mingma that he would help him for the next five years by raising funds for this work. At this point in time he had intended to move to Melbourne to begin a three-year course in orthodontic studies. But the lure of Everest proved irresistible, and he made the life-changing decision to turn down his place on the course to make an ultimately successful attempt on the world’s highest peak in 2004.
In 2005 he eventually returned to Melbourne to do the put-off orthodontic studies. Here he met with Trevor Moyle, an Otago University alumni and the present chair of SmileHigh, and began working out the logistics of how to help on a greater scale.
Firstly, the project had to meet Haszard’s three self-imposed criteria of being “safe, simple and sustainable” - ideas formed from reading extensively about the work of both the late Professor Fred Hollows, a pioneering eye cataract surgeon who worked in developing countries, and Sir Hillary.
“They were both so pragmatic; people who looked for practical and long-term solutions. After looking at the problem I thought how can we come up with a solution – not something that is so difficult and complicated that it is destined for failure,” says Haszard.
“The other part to this is that it is a preventable problem. And through quite simple measures you can end up changing the outlook for quite a lot of people.”
Right from the beginning, Smile High was developed in accordance with Hilary’s philosophy of giving back. Thus rather than a traditional charity, it acts as a “platform for people to give,” says Haszard.
“Some people might not want to give their time, they might want to give their money. But if people want to get involved and help in some way they can.”
So far this has included developing a number of pro-bono relationships for website, legal advice, accounting and creative work, such as logos, so that any money raised can be put directly into the project. Much work has also been done liaising with corporations to provide the equipment and resources directly to the project, though it is still on the lookout for a toothpaste sponsor. And while this might sound like feelgood stuff, the foundation’s structure is routed firmly in the principles of corporate management, the pro-bono offers aligning with its strong focus on efficiency and keeping overheads low.
But while SmileHigh aims to change the way we think about giving, the end goal is to equip communities with the means, and motivation, to change their own lives. Ultimately the way forward for the project is to train local people in dental therapy and so far, SmileHigh has assisted one dental therapist to become qualified and has two more in training.
Says Haszard, “Up until now we’ve thought the third world is doomed. But Smile High is about motivating people to make things better. It’s about educating people to educate their own people, and taking responsibility for their own futures.”
For more information about how to support SmileHigh please visit www.smilehigh.net
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