Robin, a founding member of MSFD in 2015, has played a huge role in the charity. David Blakeway Smith met Robin in 2014 when Robin was an ENT surgeon at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. By then, Robin had already had a long connection with Myanmar, training Burmese doctors in ENT techniques.
As a trustee of MSFD, Robin organised three visits to Myanmar, taking teams of surgeons, audiologists and teachers of the deaf to the Mandalay School for the Deaf and to schools in Yangon. On his visits he trained medics, tested children with hearing difficulties and conducted operations.
With the impossibility of continuing the charity’s work in Myanmar, Robin has been key in finding projects to support children with hearing difficulties. This has resulted in MSFD supporting the work of the Refugee Crisis Foundation with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, where Robin recently visited.
With his knowledge of Myanmar, his great experience of working with disadvantaged people, including in Nepal, his medical expertise and his connections with people in the medical and educational worlds, Robin’s impact on MSFD has been enormous.
Robin was also the lead of ENTUK and set up its first conferences on overseas ENT and Audiology initiatives, all while being involved and supporting us and other charities, such as BRINOS.
The trustees would like to thank Robin for all his hard work, dedication and wisdom over the years and to say how very grateful we are that we can continue to consult him.