Volunteering Abroad
People in developing countries often lack access to eye care. That’s why U.S. ophthalmologists are stepping-up to participate in medical missions which provide important eye care services to poor communities around the world. Medical Eye Center’s surgeons have traveled far and wide to perform cataract and other vision-restoring eye procedures, choosing to donate their time because their efforts have such a significant impact. Click on map links (or on the links at the right) to learn about our doctors’ efforts abroad.
THE NEED IS DRAMATIC
The number of blind people in the world is expected to double In the next 20 years, with 90% living in developing countries. The impact of blindness is profound. The cost of losing a productive member of the community is compounded by the cost of caring for them, all of which contributes to the vicious circle of poverty. Four out of five of these cases, however, are treatable. Because supplies are donated, foreign exchange rates are leveraged, and U.S. doctors volunteer their time, successful cataract surgeries are being made available to the desperately poor people of Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
All the charitable organizations mentioned in this section welcome donations. The money raised goes primarily to supplies, because doctors and other volunteers cover their own travel costs. For more information, visit these websites:
HAITI
Our cataract and glaucoma surgeon, Dr. Helen Koenigsman, volunteered her time with Haiti Eye Mission and 29 other volunteers in March 2019 to help restore sight to the underprivileged of Haiti, which she describes as a “life changing experience.”
During their trip they saw over 1,250 patients, dispensed 1,000 glasses, and performed 138 surgeries including cataract, corneal transplant, glaucoma laser and implants, strabismus and lesion removals.
With annual trips to Pignon, Haiti Eye Mission team is building networks throughout the area bringing treatment and education to the hospital staff and patients. Haiti Eye Mission has treated over 3,000 patients in the last three years. Other than restoring sight, the team builds relationships with residents, hospital staff, and city officials, and work with them to increase awareness of preventable and curable blindness.
Donate and learn more about how you can help here.
Ethiopia
Medical Eye Center Drs. Matt Oliva, Paul Jorizzo, and Paul Imperia have all traveled to Ethiopia on medical missions to help cure blindness. They work with local populations suffering from cataracts, glaucoma, and other eye diseases. They also help train local doctors in regional hospitals. Medical Eye Center’s Keith Shirley has also traveled to Ethiopia, offering expert training in biomedical maintenance to five different local hospitals.
DR. OLIVA'S 2016 EXPEDITION
Scenes of profound joy were evident 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 six children, three 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, as he was able to imagine for the first time a life free of his mothers blindness. Each morning ended with the patients and their families dancing in spontaneous dance circles.
There is a huge influx of new doctors choosing ophthalmology in Ethiopia. Investing in training over 50 residents and their staff will be critical in the next few years. “Our local Ethiopian team is doing a fantastic job,” says Dr. Oliva. “Word of our our work is spreading. I am so proud of our team and how we are making a difference. In 2016, the Himalayan Cataract Project sponsored just over 10,000 surgeries. Thanks to everyone for their support!”
Visit our Global Partners Program page to read stories and learn more about the ways your procedure benefits the lives of others.
RESTORING SIGHT IN ETHIOPIA
Photographer Amanda Conde had the opportunity to witness cataract procedures that treated the blind in Harar, Ethiopia. Dr. Oliva was one of the doctors performing the life-changing procedures.
EXPERT TRAINING IN BIOMEDICAL MAINTENANCE
Maintaining ophthalmic equipment is vital for any hospital, especially where services are few and far between. Keith Shirley, Medical Eye Center’s biomedical engineer, recently traveled to Ethiopia to provide two weeks of training to local biomedical maintenance technicians. On behalf of the Himalayan Cataract Project, Keith worked with nine local technicians at five institutions to examine equipment, make repairs, and provide hands-on guidance and training. Read the full story here.
ACCELERATE ETHIOPIA
The event offers participants a unique opportunity to train and race with some of the world’s best endurance athletes in one of the most stunning trail running settings on the planet. The runners will then join the Himalayan Cataract Project to participate in a high-volume cataract program where 1,000+ sight-restoring surgeries will be provided to local residents. Medical Eye Center’s Dr. Matt Oliva will work with Ethiopian eye care providers and the volunteer team to perform the surgeries. Participants will spend three days working with patients pre- and post-operation where they will witness people—many who have been blind for years—having their sight restored. Learn more at Outside Magazine online.
DR. JORIZZO’S 2012 EXPEDITION
In January 2012, Dr. Paul Jorizzo returned to Ethiopia, this time with his daughter Kristen. Working with the Himalayan Cataract Project, an international aid organization whose mission is to cure blindness in underdeveloped regions of the world, Dr. Jorizzo assisted in two campaigns. In the first, at Quiha Hospital in Makele, he participated in a high-volume cataract surgery outreach camp. Then, at Gongar University, Dr. Jorizzo saw patients in a private practice setting, where he provided instruction in glaucoma management.
At remote Quiha hospital, Dr. Jorizzo worked with Ethiopian ophthalmologist Tilahun Kiros, MD and was assisted by several highly skilled local nurses, along with an ophthalmology resident from Addis Ababa. Working long hours with few breaks, the team performed 425 eye surgeries in just four days. His daughter Kristen was in charge of guiding and positioning patients and patching their eyes after the procedure. Almost all the patients were suffering from cataracts. “Patients were overjoyed with their vision right away,” says Dr. Jorizzo, “Our team restored sight to hundreds people whose blindness was not only devastating to them as individuals, it was also a burden on their families.”
As the only ophthalmologist in a large, extremely poor region, the overwhelming needs of the community place a heavy burden on Dr. Tilahun and Quiha Hospital. Fortunately, the new facility is adequately equipped to house and process the number of patients who are treated. Dr. Jorizzo found the nursing staff to be well-trained and highly efficient. “They are truly a joy to work with,” he says, “and Dr. Tilahun is a great surgeon. His dedicated team is well suited to address the complex cases at Quiha, and they work tirelessly to achieve good surgical outcomes, despite all the challenges.”
Gondar University Hospital was a completely different experience from rural Quiha. With many more doctors to serve far fewer patients, the University has dedicated two floors of a new building to ophthalmology. The faculty includes five ophthalmologists, all with sub-specialty interests. There is also an ophthalmology residency program and an optometry school. Dr. Jorizzo consulted with local medical professionals on glaucoma patients for three days, beginning with a lecture to over 30 ophthalmologists, optometrists, residents and ophthalmic nurses. He then proceeded to the operating room where he oversaw nine glaucoma surgeries each day. Dr. Jorizzo was impressed with the skills of doctors, students, and nurses alike. “Everyone was easy to teach and had very good surgical skills. It was an important opportunity to further my personal mission of improving the understanding and treatment of glaucoma in Africa.”
“Our surgical expedition to Ethiopia was extremely fulfilling on many levels,” reports Dr. Jorizzo, “but sharing the experience with my daughter was particularly special. Kristen worked very hard, and her energy and drive was contagious. She also took amazing photographs of the patients and our experiences with them. We spent the long flight home planning our next Ethiopia expedition in 2013.”
CATARACT WORKSHOP
In November 2009, Dr. Matt Oliva and Dr. Tilahun Kiros Meshesha oversaw an important eye care intervention in Mekele, Ethiopia. At this cataract workshop, 598 patients received sight-restoring surgery and Drs. Oliva and Meshesha also performed ten corneal transplants on bilaterally blind patients.
Earlier the same year, Dr. Meshesha received advanced training in the U.S. from the doctors at Medical Eye Center. Dr. Meshesha is one of the highest volume cataract surgeons in Ethiopia, providing critical eye care in the Tigray Region of his home country. “Dr. Meshesha is becoming an excellent transplant surgeon. He’s now much better equipped to meet the incredible need for corneal transplantation in Northern Ethiopia.”
The amount of corneal blindness in Ethiopia is staggering, primarily due to Vitamin A deficiency as well as measles, trachoma, trauma, and infection. “All of the transplants we did were on bilaterally blind young patients,” says Dr. Oliva. “Before surgery, one boy was totally blind and had to be led around by others. After the surgery, he was smiling and could get around by himself without help. I think it is vitally important that we continue to support the Ethiopian Eye Bank and it’s individual surgeons.” Learn more at the CureBlindness website.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE
The December 2009 / January 2010 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine features a cover article about Dr. Geoff Tabin and his 2009 Himalayan Cataract Project cataract workshop in Mekele, Ethiopia. Dr. Tabin serves on the board of directors of the Himalayan Cataract Project with our own Dr. Oliva, and he worked alongside local ophthalmologist Dr. Tilahun Kiros Meshesha, who received advanced training at Medical Eye Center.
CELEBRATION!
Watch a short video of post-operative cataract patients in Mekelle, Ethiopia as they celebrate the gift of sight with their community.
KENYA
In November 2016, Dr. John Welling joined a team of doctors and ophthalmology residents from around the U.S. in a trip to Ghana, a country in West Africa.
Together, they provided free cataract surgeries for rural communities through the Himalayan Cataract Project, which began in Nepal and now extends to remote areas of Africa. Through the program, Dr. Welling and his partners have given renewed sight to over 200 residents of Ghana, many of whom otherwise live without access to care and have been blind for years.
The Himalayan Cataract Project also facilitates long-term partnerships and trainings between visiting and local doctors, giving communities the resources necessary to provide this sight-restoring surgery for those in need.
RADIO INTERVIEW
Before departing to Ghana, Dr. Welling was interviewed by Bill Myers on KMED.
Kenya
It takes a village—a global village—to improve health care around the world. That’s why Dr. Matt Oliva has joined with the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) to promote self-sufficient eye care in impoverished nations by restoring eyesight to thousands in Africa and teaching African doctors to do the same.
Dr. Oliva teamed up with HCP and the Earth Institute at Columbia University on the Millenium Villages Project, which involves finding the most cost effective health, agriculture, and education interventions in order to help rural African villages lift themselves out of poverty and meet the millennium development goals set forth by the United Nations.
As part of this effort Dr. Oliva traveled to western Kenya for a week conducting comprehensive eye care programs. Working with Kenyan ophthalmologist, Dr. Ciku Mathenge and her team of Kenyan ophthalmic nurses, Dr. Oliva performed cataract surgery, examined the 5,000 members of the village, treated a variety of eye diseases, mass treated for Vitamin A deficiency, and provided glasses for patients who needed them.
Sauri, Kenya is a farming community plagued by hunger, AIDS, and malaria. Between sixty and seventy percent of the population live on less than a dollar per day. With limited access to medical care and poverty preventing residents from buying what little medicine is available, malnutrition and poor health run rampant.
After completing his work in Sauri, Dr. Oliva traveled to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to host a corneal transplant workshop with Dr. Dan Kiage, a corneal specialist at Aga Khan Hospital. The ten corneas provided for transplantation during Dr. Oliva’s trip come from the SightLife eye bank in Seattle, which provides the tissue used in MEC’s corneal transplants. SightLife is in the process of establishing a functioning eye bank in Kenya to support the massive need for corneal transplantation.
Back in Medford, Medical Eye Center welcomed Rwandan doctor John Nkurikiye who spent 10 days observing MEC doctors and learning more about modern eye care techniques. Dr. Nkurikiye’s visit is part of the HCP American-standard residency training program in ophthalmology, established in 2004. This program is a joint effort of the Tilganga Eye Centre and the Nepal Eye Hospital under the National Academy of Medical Sciences. It is designed to train young ophthalmologists to operate at the highest international level of ophthalmology and adheres to the curriculum established by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Nkurikiye is the most well trained and proficient ophthalmologist in Rwanda. His trip to America involved a three-month long corneal fellowship. In addition to his stay at MEC, he spent two months at the Moran Eye Center in Utah and a week at SightLife in Seattle, to learn more about eye banking. SightLife is in the process of starting an eye bank in Rwanda so that Dr. Nkurikiye will have corneas available to treat the large burden of corneal blindness.
The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) is establishing a sustainable eye care infrastructure in the Himalaya that empowers local doctors to provide high-quality ophthalmic care through skills-transfer and education. The HCP responds to a pressing need for eye care in the Himalayan region. Our programs in Nepal, Tibet, China, Bhutan, India, Sikkim, and Pakistan have restored sight to tens of thousands of blind people every year since 1994. For more information on HCP visit www.cureblindness.org
The Millennium Villages project offers a bold, innovative model for helping rural African communities lift themselves out of extreme poverty. The Villages are proving that by fighting poverty at the local level through community-led development, rural Africa can achieve the Millennium Development Goals—global targets for reducing extreme poverty and hunger by half and improving education, health, gender equality and environmental sustainability—by 2015, and escape the extreme poverty that traps hundreds of millions of people throughout the continent. For more information on Millennium Villages visit www.millenniumvillages.org
SightLife, operated by the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight & Hearing, is one of the leading eye banks in the nation. They provide corneas for transplant, meeting regional needs and helping fill gaps across the United States and in 25 other countries. For more information on SightLife visit www.sightlife.org
Dr. Oliva’s 2017 Expedition
In February 2017, Dr. Matt Oliva ventured to Myanmar to work with corneal surgeons at Yangon Eye Hospital. Throughout the campaign, Dr. Oliva assisted local ophthalmologists in performing corneal transplants, delivered lectures on surgical techniques, and conducted trainings with ophthalmology residents.
During the exchange, the team of surgeons completed a number of vision-correcting surgeries, observed by crowd of 20 medical residents and junior faculty. In partnering with local eye care providers, Dr. Oliva provided several hands-on workshops, and educated medical teams on advanced technology and available resources to aid with sight-restoring campaigns for the local population.
There is currently a long waiting list of patients in need vision-correcting surgeries in Myanmar. Fortunately, there is also high awareness of eye donation in the country, where there is much corneal blindness to be treated. To encourage eye bank contributions in Myanmar, which is culturally supportive of corneal care options, there is no processing fee in place for donations, and all care at government hospitals is free. Local monasteries also provide monetary donations to generously help cover costs of corneal transplants.
Dr. Oliva’s mission on this campaign included connecting local teams with SightLife, a non-profit global health organization focused on eliminating corneal blindness around the world. The leadership at Yangon Eye Hospital is looking forward to participating in the global eye banking community, reports Oliva, and growing their own eye bank considerably to best serve their population’s needs.
“I’m looking forward to working together with everyone to expand corneal care in Myanmar,” says Oliva. “Thanks to everyone who made this exchange possible.”
NEPAL
NEPAL EARTHQUAKE: SUPPORTING THE RELIEF EFFORT
The Himalayan Cataract Project’s co-founder Dr. Sanduk Ruit and all of HCP’s partners and friends at the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology are safe. The eye hospital is still standing and functioning. Unfortunately, several colleagues have lost their homes and countless acquaintances have died. Many outlying communities and villages are completely destroyed. Power, water, and transportation are devastated. Partners at Tilganga are working around the clock to treat patients with eye trauma and other injuries.
We need the worldwide ophthalmology community to help Nepal recover. The Himalayan Cataract Project will fund direct relief and free treatment for trauma victims with a special account called “Nepal Relief.” 100% of the funds raised will go directly to the relief efforts coordinated by Dr. Ruit in Nepal.
To make a donation, please click here.
To learn more, please visit www.cureblindness.org
PULLAHARI MONASTERY, KATHMANDU, NEPAL
This outreach is an annual collaborative effort between the monastery, the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, and the Himalayan Cataract Project. This year many of the patients have come from the earthquake-affected regions where access to necessities—especially healthcare—has been scarce. Many have traveled for a day on foot, then a day on a bus. All will receive sight-restoring cataract surgery, free of cost. They arrive in their best traditional clothing—a stunning combination of color and texture, accented with handmade gold jewelry.
Although stoic, the patients can’t help but project some of the anxiety they feel as they prepare for surgery. The operating rooms are a model of efficiency. The scrub nurses have assisted in tens of thousands of surgeries and anticipate the surgeon’s every move, passing the needed instruments without being asked. The surgeons’ movements are unhurried and precise. Within just a few minutes a dense cataract is removed, a clear prosthetic lens inserted in its place. As soon as one surgery is complete, the next patient is immediately laid on the table and the process is repeated—over and over and over, from early morning, into the dark of night.
The morning after surgery is when the magic happens. Surrounded by family members, the patients line up on the front steps of the monastery, waiting for the surgeon to remove their patches. As a patch is removed, loved ones look on in anxious anticipation. In the bright morning light, initial blinking and squinting give way to broad smiles of recognition as patients see the faces of loved ones whom, in some cases, they may not have seen for years.
The beauty of the people is matched only by the beauty of this moment when sight is restored and new life is given. Together, 227 patients, along with their families, start the long trek home looking forward to this new life and the opportunities it will bring. The monks, surgeons, and staff return to their respective lives, deeply grateful for the opportunity to participate, and already looking forward to next year.
Dr. John Welling with a cataract patient in Nepal.
Dr. Matt Oliva celebrates the gift of site.
Dr. Welling removes bandages at Pullahari Monastery.
THE HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT
Drs. Oliva and Imperia also spent time at the Tilganga Eye Hospital in Kathmandu teaching ophthalmology residents, working with the eye bank, doing corneal surgery, and exchanging skills with the faculty. They also traveled to southern Nepal, to the Hetauda Eye Hospital, to teach modern phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Dr. Sanduk Ruit, the director of the Tilganga Eye Hospital and a pioneer in providing cataract surgery to the poor in Nepal, spent time with the doctors planning a future project to bring Lasik surgery to Nepal. Lasik could potentially have a large impact on visual impairment amongst poor, rural patients who have poor vision simply because they have no sustainable access to eyeglasses.
The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) is establishing a sustainable eye care infrastructure in the Himalaya that empowers local doctors to provide high-quality ophthalmic care through skills-transfer and education. The HCP responds to a pressing need for eye care in the Himalayan region. Our programs in Nepal, Tibet, China, Bhutan, India, Sikkim, and Pakistan have restored sight to tens of thousands of blind people every year since 1994. For more information on HCP visit www.cureblindness.org
PERU
It’s not every 17-year-old who can say she helped restore sight to a hundred impoverished people in a remote area of Peru. But Kristin Jorizzo can. She’s the daughter of Medical Eye Center’s Dr. Paul Jorizzo. Kristen and her father spent 12 days in Huamachuco, Peru, as part of a medical expedition coordinated by Surgical Eye Expeditions International (SEE)—a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides medical, surgical, and educational services by volunteer ophthalmic surgeons with the primary objective of restoring sight to disadvantaged blind individuals worldwide.
“The people of Huamachuco were some of the most amazing and caring people that I have ever met,” says Kristen. “Being able to help them was a gratifying experience which I will hold with me forever.” She prepared for the trip by working at MEC for the past few summers, assisting in research projects and as well as helping in the role of ophthalmic technician and surgical technician.
Inspired by her father’s involvement, Kristen has developed a strong commitment to international aid. “I plan on getting my school involved with the town of Huamachuco and the people in surrounding villages,” she says. “While it may not be the most impoverished place on earth, the people there could truly use our help and that’s what is most important. The experiences that I had there will be with me forever and guide me through future expeditions. The fact that I was able to share this experience with my dad made it even more special.”
The Jorizzos, joined by MEC Surgical Assistant Nolan Sargent and a team of eye surgeons and technicians, traveled to the Andes Mountains to perform cataract surgery on approximately 100 indigent patients. A cataract is a cloudiness that develops in the otherwise clear crystalline lens of the eye, deteriorating the vision to blindness. Patients in developing nations who could otherwise be productive members of their families and society become a burden when cataracts disable them. By performing modern cataract operations, SEE volunteers are able to return vision to those who generally do not even have access to basic health services. After a quick recovery these patients can return to work and become productive again. Additionally, the traveling surgeons teach the local Peruvian doctors the techniques they can use to help many more needy patients in their country.
Putting together an air-transportable, modern surgical package was a huge undertaking that required a cohesive surgical team and support personnel who gave of their time selflessly. National medical supply companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Bausch & Lomb, and Alcon donate almost all the equipment and supplies needed for the free medical clinics. The volunteers donate their time and pay for all of their own travel expenses.
“Our time in Peru was truly special for me,” said Dr. Jorizzo. “The town of Huamachuco has no access to eye care. Many patients had such severe cataracts that they could only perceive light, and several walked for four hours to see us. The changes that we were able to make in their lives were extremely gratifying, and being able to share this experience with my daughter, Kristen, was certainly something that I will always treasure.”
Founded by a California eye surgeon in 1974, SEE has coordinated the work of hundreds of surgeons in performing thousands of sight saving operations in countries throughout the world. To learn more visit the SEE International website.
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