Nepal networking

MIKE SCOTT/Taranaki Daily News

SMILE PLEASE: Student Buddhist monks pose for the camera after a puja, or ceremony, was held at a Kathmandu monastery to bless the SmileHigh mission to Samagon.

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SmileHigh

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Organising and flying a dental team to remote Nepal to run a clinic in trying conditions does not happen on a whim.

SmileHigh co-founder Dr Mingma Nuru Sherpa, while busy running his own burgeoning dental clinic in Kathmandu, also weaves through a paper trail and surmounts a logistical mountain to make any SmileHigh mission a reality.

It takes months of background work. Before even contemplating who will make up the international dental team, there is a lot to overcome.

"This is a lot of process, you know," he said.

"Any dentist coming from overseas must get permission to work ... plus with all the volunteers I am responsible for their safety."

For this mission to the remote Samagon region, it requires the co-ordination of the United Nations World Food Programme, helicopters, weather, a mountain expedition company and of course the willing dentists.

Yet, much like the chaotic Kathmandu traffic, order prevails and another SmileHigh mission is about to begin.

A goal of SmileHigh is to become sustainable within the country it serves.

"We want to develop dental professionals within Nepal to operate SmileHigh," co-founder Julian Haszard said.

"Already we have sponsored two dental therapists to work and educate children in these remote areas.

"You know, Sir Edmund Hillary actually identified this oral health problem and now we are training people to sort it out."

- © Fairfax NZ News