The guest speaker for the meeting was Dr. Sathie Naidoo, a partner in Kennington Dental. Sathie, of Indian heritage, was born and educated in South Africa. His ancestors came to South Africa as part of indentured labour arrangements. He spoke highly of South Africa making a lot of comparisons with Australia aside from the fact that he finds Australia a safer place to live. He commenced University studies in Engineering and changed to Dentistry because of the opportunities for personal interaction it presented.

 

As a Naturalised Australian Sathie explored the idea of mateship and its equivalent in South African and Indian culture. It is reassuring as Australians that he has experienced in his everyday life people giving without counting the cost and acceptance of others. Sathie sees the idea of mateship as keeping Australians grounded in a common belief in the same way as the Rotary wheel reminds Rotarians of our values. He regrets that John Howard wasn't able to have the idea of mateship enshrined in the constitution but saw this as mainly a problem of language. Mandela and Gandhi are good examples of two leaders who were shaped by experiences in South Africa and who stuck to their core beliefs as a guide to their actions even in hardship.

 

Sathie eventually bought into John Kosta's Dental Practice in 2014 after coming to Bendigo at the invitation of Bendigo Health. He commenced work there at the time of the birth of he and Kate's first child. He appreciates the grounding that training in Paediatric Dentistry has given him. Kennington Dental performs some complex procedures and Sathie is aware of the importance of references to Specialists in particular areas. He is involved in teaching at LaTrobe University and welcomes the inclusion of Sociology into contemporary courses for Dentists. He believes this gives Dentists the skills to break down the fear of Dentistry which some people have.

 

Sathie applies his philosophy of mateship to the way he runs the practice. He promotes the importance of a family environment where people feel comfortable and welcome. We are most grateful to him for giving the time to be our guest and we thank him for the contribution he makes to Health in Bendigo.