WeLoveTeeth dentist Dr Asif Hamid was among a 12 person medical team that flew out to Nepal following the devastating earthquake, which killed more than 8,000 people and left hundreds of thousands displaced.
The team were able to treat over 1000 patients in the villages of Batase and Tinmane. These villages are in Nepal’s rural interior and are difficult to access by road. The medical conditions treated included traumatic injury as a result of the earthquake, breathing difficulties, conditions related to exposure and psychological trauma. The team saw first hand the devastation to the Nepalese people’s homes and livelihoods.
Since the earthquake Asif has helped raise over £7,000 to help the survivors
Over the 12 days he was there, he experienced further tremors.
“It really shakes your belief in everything. The one thing you felt was certain – standing on solid ground – is taken away and there is a feeling of impending doom. It makes you realise how minor we all are in the grand scheme of things.”
Even though his volunteering role drew on his organisational, communications and logistical, rather than dental skills, Asif being a dentist in his core, still taught the local children how to brush their teeth properly!
“I had toothpaste and toothbrushes and taught the local children how to brush their teeth properly. Children are amazing and resilient, despite everything they were going through it made them smile and they had such happy faces. Some even came the next day to show me their lovely clean teeth.”
