In support of Health in Sight Mission.
*On-going partnership.
This was a brand new partnership for us. We spent a week at Hekima Place, an all-girls orphanage and school to provide basic vision screening and develop partnerships with the local hospital for future work in that area of Nairobi. Our team for this trip consisted of oral surgeons, gynecologist, nurses, and volunteers to meet the needs of the orphanage. Most of these girls of various ages have never had a basic physical. In addition to the medical services, we hoped to be an inspiration for the girls, especially the ones who hope to become healthcare providers.
We returned to Friends’ Eye Center at the end of January for one week with donated equipment that improves the pediatric anesthesia monitoring during surgery. We are working with local partners to outfit the operating theaters with a few more items such as better lighting, sterilizing equipment, and more patient tables. We have a few patients that we couldn’t operate on last year because the lack of cauterization units, etc. We will be following up on these cases in particular.
In December 2017, we provided oculoplastics reconstructive and pediatric surgical services and education to the Goutami Eye Institute in Andhra Pradesh, India located in the southern part of India. It is a non-profit private clinic established by Dr. VK Raju. The Institute serves a rural part of India and has a mission of stamping out preventable vision loss.
Dr. Seth Wanye is the main director of Friends Eye Centre in Tamale, Ghana. He currently serves approximately 2 million patients in a very under-served region. He is a Unite for Sight Ambassador. Currently most of sub-specialty care for the Friends Eye Centre is supported by various global mission groups. We will be providing oculoplastics (eyelid and reconstructive surgeries), pediatric, and corneal surgeries for the Centre on our trip at the end of September. We will also be educating the physicians and staff in surgical techniques, sterilization process, etc. We will also hand-carry various needed surgical equipment and tools asked by Dr. Wanye.
You Can Make a Difference.
We are supported by grants from foundations, industry and private donations. Equipment and tools are donated in kind by industry and health-care systems. The members of the team on surgical missions participate on a volunteer-basis. Please email us to initiate discussions of equipment/supply support, or click on the link below to make a donation in support to our teams in region projects.