mattoliva

Thanks for the positive feedback.

Like most people who go into medicine, I always wanted to help people. As a neophyte medical student I volunteered to work in a remote part of Tanzania for four months doing glaucoma research. I found I liked bouncing around in the back of pickup trucks on dusty roads to examine peoples eyes and also living in remote locales. There were blind people everywhere(as there are in most of rural Asia and Africa) and it made me realize what a difference restoring sight could make in these communities. Once I made one trip, it opened up a ton of opportunities. I advise people to travel first(ideally with an organization with some experience) and it tends to lead to connections and new pathways. Need is everywhere.

One of my memorable patients in Nepal was a woman who had been totally blind for five years from cataracts. After her bandages were removed from her cataract surgeries she was so overjoyed she began dancing around the room and singing. Her Nepali dancing style was like she was at a grateful dead show with plenty of spins. AFter ten minutes of spinning she was vomiting in the corner(still with the biggest smile on her face :)). The most memorable patients and moments are when people realize they can see again. Their dignity and life is restored. It is a moment that never gets old.

Yes, this is our organization. North Korea has one of of the highest blindness rates in the world. We have now trained 10+ NK doctors and nurses in providing modern cataract surgery by having them come to Nepal and also Nepalese doctors and nurses doing 1000+ skills transfer eyecamps yearly in NK. As Americans obviously we cannot go.

I helped train a NK eye surgeon at an eyecamp in Nepal about 7 years ago. He had an "interpreter" with him that spoke zero English and was there basically to make sure the doctors didnt go anywhere. It was frustrating therefore to communicate. The NK doctors are doing very well. They are like all the other doctors who simply want to be able to do their jobs and help their people.

When the Nepali teams are in NK they are not allowed to visit many places. It is essentially to the eye camp to work and back to the hotel. It is micromanaged very closely by NK handlers. The Nepali doctors and nurses like going there because they feel they are making a huge difference. Dr. Reeta Gurung from Nepal has personally been to NK over five times to train doctors and singlehandedly has helped advance eye care in the country tremendously.

You have to smoke it every two hours to keep the eye pressure low so you better be motivated.

There are much better treatments :)

Many patients in remote parts of asia and africa have been blind for 5+ years. Recently I had a relatively young woman who had been blind for 9 years in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, in the developing world, when you become blind, your life expectancy plummets rapidly. The mortality rate for blind patients, especially young children, is extremely high. Unless they have a very good family to care for them, many blind people die of poor nutrition and neglect. The Nepali term for a blind person is a "mouth with no hands" which sums it up fairly succinctly.

The reactions that patients have to getting their sight back is quite variable. For the first thirty seconds it is typically a very "stunned" look on the patients face. Then slowly this wave of realization spreads across their body as their brain begins to process the vision. Often times a huge smile, a look to the heavens, or shrieks of joy emanate. They search for family members to embrace. They want to touch and stare into their faces.

In Nepal, patients frequently try to start dancing. In Ethiopia, many patients "ululate" making a high pitched rythmic noise, that is then joined by the other patients. Patients are often unsteady on their feet and somewhat stunned. When you see blind patients with their sight restored later in the day they are walking around confidently and they look like completely different people than the blind person that was on the operating room the day before.

The Fred Hollows Foundation is an amazing Australian NGO that is very similar to HCP and our key collaborative partner in many countries(Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia). The late Fred Hollows laid the groundwork for much of what has been accomplished. I was at Fred's house and met his wife Gabi several years ago. Fred was one of the rare people who always stood up for what was right even if it was not easy with the message that "even the worlds poorest people have the right to the highest quality healthcare". He trained our codirector Dr. Sanduk Ruit and we at HCP and also the FHF continue to be guided by his vision for equal right to healthcare for Australian aboriginal population and those in need of eyecare services.