Outreach Eye Camps in Ethiopia

Arba Minch Hospital hosts HCP Affiliated Ophthalmologist and Lenovo equipment tester for cataract outreach.

HCP Affiliated Ophthalmologist Dr. John Welling, Lenovo employee Chris Annison and The Keeler Family traveled to Ethiopia to work with HCP partner Dr. Dawit Gidey of the Arba Minch Hospital in Ethiopia for a cataract outreach from June 12-16. In just four days, a total of 607 cataract surgeries and one corneal tear repair were performed.

Dr. John Welling participated in several surgical outreach events as an HCP International Fellow from 2015 to 2016. He is now one of HCP’s Affiliated Ophthalmologists and works with HCP Board Member Dr. Matt Oliva at the Medical Eye Center in Medford, OR. Dr. Dawit Gidey is an HCP partner Ophthalmologist at the Arba Minch Hospital and most recently spent five months in an HCP-supported cornea sub-specialty training program at the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Nepal.

Chris Annison works for Lenovo, a US-based innovative consumer, commercial and enterprise technologies company. In addition to generously supporting to this outreach, Lenovo is working with HCP to test tablets that collect monitoring and evaluation data in the field.

HCP would like to thank Chris and the Keeler family; Cliff, Wendy, Chelsey, India, Jaxon and Durban, who volunteered at this outreach with their time and also provided support through the Keeler Lift Up the Hands Fund. Below are two patient stories captured by this amazing group.

Patient Stories:

This is Kababush, she is 34 years old and a mother of six. She was blind in both eyes because of advanced cataracts. Due to her blindness, her husband has been taking care of their children, significantly reducing his ability to earn income. As a result the older children were also forced to stay home from school in order to help with their younger siblings. Kababush traveled 175 km to Arba Minch during this outreach in hopes that she would regain her sight giving her the ability to take care of her family again. Prior to her cataract surgeries she said if her sight was restored the first thing she would do is give thanks to God and go home to take care of her kids again. The next day, she did exactly that.

This is Mekelmu (pictured with his father & Dr. Welling), he is 14 years old and has been blind in both eyes from cataracts since the age of 7. Not wanting him to fall behind, Mekelmu’s father made him go to school through second grade, even after he lost his sight. However, he was teased and bullied so much that eventually his father allowed him to stay home. When he was blind he would sit at home by himself or go to the fields where his father worked and sit on the ground. During this outreach he received sight sight restoring surgery in both eyes. Mekelmu says he can't wait to go back to school and help his mother at home.

A surgical outreach intervention held at Arbaminch General Hospital in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR) region from March 20-25th provided 981 cataract surgeries. The surgical team consisted of HCP co-founder Dr. Geoff Tabin, Dr. Demoze of Hawassa University, Abraham Aregay of Woldiya Hospital, HCP Volunteer Timmy O’Neill and visiting staff from other Ethiopian partners, including Quiha Zonal Hospital, Hawassa University, Mekele Hospital, Jimma University and Peace Corps. HCP and its 10 implementing partners in Ethiopia are working to reduce the backlog of cataract blindness. It is estimated that over 600,000 people are blind due to cataracts. HCP’s support for outreach campaigns provide much needed service while building ophthalmic capacity for Ethiopia’s present and future eye care personnel.

Also in March, HCP Partner Abba Philippos Memorial Eye Clinic of Ethiopia conducted 3 consecutive outreach events, yielding a total of 549 surgeries – the highest number of people this outreach team has reached in a single month. The team began at Bodji Clinic, where 90 cataract surgeries were performed in two days. From there, they traveled directly to Aira Base Hospital, where a huge crowd was waiting for treatment. That week, they were able to complete 174 cataract surgeries, which is a record high for the base hospital. Finally, the surgical team made their way to Dembidollo, where they did an additional 285 cataract surgeries in six days. Advance screening of patients was conducted by the Aira Base Hospital and Dembidollo staff.

“On behalf of the eye team and the patients, we would like to thank you and our donors for this huge help. May God bless you all. We are very glad to be part of this.”

Patient Stories from the Field:

• A female patient, age 25, had been blind for two years. She completed grade nine but could not go back to school due to her poor eye vision. Her exam revealed bilateral cataracts. Surgery went well with excellent post-operative vision. The next morning upon removing her eye patches, she smiled and stared at her brother who had brought her to the hospital. She is very eager to go back to school.
• A female patient, age 30, had been blind for 13 years. She had been advised by traditional healers not to seek modern medical care and thus remained at home for many years, unable to see. The surgery was uneventful and she had an excellent outcome. After the patch was removed, she told her story to other patients and kept on smiling and laughing.
• A male patient had been blind for the last 12 months from cataracts. He moved to Wellega from the eastern part of Ethiopia 8 years ago due to drought in that area. He could not afford to go to Aira Hospital and had been waiting for the arrival of the Abba Philippos eye team. He had excellent post operative vision and was very happy.