100k For Leh

Our Fundraising Initiative

In order to try and raise the money for the supplies (see below) needed for this trip we have decided to do a sponsored walk around the perimeter of Singapore over two days. This should take us a total of 18 hours of walking, where we aim to walk 100km to raise money money for the people in Ladakh.

The Project

A group of young individuals from Tanglin Trust School are going to Leh in Northern India to help out with medical processes for two weeks. The Himalayan Health Projects enable people in remote Himalayan villages to access vital treatment previously unavailable to them. In order for this trip to be as meaningful as possible we are fundraising money to buy modern medical equipment that this town otherwise could not get.

The History

This team in Singapore has had a long-standing (now 12-year) relationship with Lamdon School in Ladakh, and this has evolved into supporting numerous projects helping the Himalayan Health Project’s Women's, Dental and Vision programmes.

The Details

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in India and the disease kills more women in India than in anywhere else in the world. We have found high rates of cervical pre-cancer in this isolated and remote area. The Women's Health Project has adopted a single-visit approach for the detection and treatment using a simple and cost effective method of screening. Where necessary, treatment for infection from the HPV virus is provided, including surgical treatment for their developing precancerous lesions before that condition becomes a life threatening malignancy.

The Vision Project has examined over 7,000 patients in some of the most remote regions of Ladakh. Over 1000 pairs of custom prescription eyeglasses have been measured for, fabricated and provided to the patients free of charge. Over 3,000 pairs of close focusing reading glasses were also distributed to older patients and thousands of doses of hydrating, and antibiotic eye drops were distributed to provide relief for the environmental damage and irritation caused by the lack of adequate hygiene regimens as well the harsh environmental conditions of this extreme high Himalayan region.

A volunteer dentist who offered screening at the Lamdon School found that virtually every child had extremely decayed teeth despite the fact that many of them were less than 10 years old. From that need arose the concept and ambition of The Himalayan Dental Project. Over the next 10 years collaborations with several large teams of international dentists from Singapore, New Zealand and The United States have come to Ladakh to set up rudimentary dental camps in remote locations to bring basic oral health care to those in such desperate need.

Over the past nine years, volunteer students have worked with ophthalmic, dental and general medics to assist with medical intervention in the camps set up in various monasteries, schools and clinics. These temporary mobile camps provide vital treatment for remote Himalayan villages otherwise cut off. Furthermore, thanks in part to the Singapore community’s ongoing fundraising endeavours, the newly built permanent Lamdon Clinic built on the school grounds now acts as an important medical hub for these communities. In addition to the diagnostic work that takes place with our team's help in the mobile camps, villagers can now actually be treated close at the Leh Lamdon Clinic by the teams of doctors, dentists and ophthalmologists who volunteer their services through the Himalayan Health Project organization (http://himalayanhealthproject.org/).

Hopefully we can all come together as a community and help out the people of Ladakh. Any donation will be helpful and would be filled with gratitude.

-Oliver Ogden, Adam Coe, Jack Unterweger, Sean Roche.