Helen Keller said that: 'blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people'. When deafness is combined with chronic infection in ear disease, the sufferer is truely isolated and when that person is a young person trying to make their way in one of the poorest countries in the world, it is a devastating burden.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world with one of the highest incidences of chronic ear disease: something that Ear Aid Nepal and the INF are trying to turn around. As a UK ear surgeon, it's been my privilege to work with the INF in some of the ear camps that place twice a year in some of the most remote regions of Nepal.

Exhausting, never luxurious and entirely voluntary, these camps can find us working in a makeshift operating theatre at one in the morning while a ten year old boy or girl lies completely still as we perform ear surgery under local anaesthetic. In two weeks we will generally see 1000+ patients and operate on over 100 patients.

The next phase is to build a permenant hospital in Pokhara, Nepal. This facility will offer vital continuity of care for patients and act as a base for education and research enbling the local population to take control of their own health.

Plans for the hospital are already advanced but more funds are needed, and this is why I am organising an epic cycle ride in Suffolk on June 21. Join me riding 50, 100, 200 or (if you're totally crazy!) 300 miles to raise money for this wonderful cause.

If you're not a cyclist, then please, please donate through this page to help make the hospital a reality.

For more details, contact me on tpcmartin001@gmail.com

To find out more about Ear Aid Nepal, visit their website www.earaidnepal.org