Our very own Dr. Matt Oliva traveled to Ethiopia in December as part of the Himalayan Cataract Project to extend his surgical talents to hundreds of children and adults from all corners of the country.
Working with 3 Ethiopian ophthalmologists and their teams from all corners of Ethiopia at Bisidimo Hospital (Harar) the team completed 1,336 cataract surgeries in 6 days. Nearly 40% percent of the surgeries were on patients who were bilaterally blind and over 40 children had their sight restored.
There were scenes of profound joy each day when close to 300 eye patches came off. The most memorable patient was a 30-year-old woman who had been blind for 10 years. She had 6 children, 3 of which were surviving. As her eye patches came off she was able to see her 8-year-old son and 9-month-old son for the first time. The elder son was beaming; he was able to imagine for the first time a life free of his mother’s blindness. Each morning ended with the patients and their families dancing and ululating in spontaneous dance circles.
“Our local Ethiopian team is doing a fantastic job and word of our work is spreading,” says Dr. Oliva. “I had the opportunity to meet with the Federal Ministry of Health eye care team, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Orbis International and also led a meeting of the 5 residency program directors of the country. There is a huge influx of new doctors choosing ophthalmology (currently close to 50 ophthalmology residents) and investing in training them and their staff will be critical in the next few years.”
As the year closes we have sponsored just over 10,000 surgeries for this year alone! This represents approximately 20% of the entire country’s surgical output.
“I am so proud of our team and how we are making a difference,” says Dr. Oliva. “I would like to thank everyone for their support of our work.”
Please watch for our next blog: the touching story of 15-year-old Eskedar Haji who had his sight restored after 6 years of blindness.
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