Even though many people's thoughts have been turning to Christmas and the holiday season, the workload at Kwale District Eye Centre continues at the same pace.

‘Eye Give’

We are pleased to see that the use of the ‘Eye Give’ distant giving service, provided by Eyes for East Africa UK, through the website shop continues to be popular.

It’s a good way to give a gift to anyone and not only those ‘hard to buy for’.

Please remember the service is available all year round - it’s not only for Christmas gifts. Funds raised through ‘Eye Give’ allow you to help those in need of eye care.

South Coast Academy (Diani) visit the Eye Centre

Children from the South Coast Academy visited Kwale District Eye Centre.

It’s never too early to learn about eyes as a really important part of preventing eye disease.

For this visit, early learning was certainly the case as the youngest was only three, but he was still keen to learn about eyes and what we did with them.

We measured their vision and taught them the anatomy of the eye using a big eye model, about basic eye care and nutrition.

The young students were very enthusiastic and asked endless questions while they toured the Centre and met a few patients.

Awareness of eyes and their problems is usually something we teach people out in the community but we welcome all people who are interested in learning.

The two photographs on the right show our young visitors trying out equipment and learning by enjoying themselves.

Note: You do not have to be able to read to use the eye testing chart shown in the first photograph.

Above: This is how we test your eyesight.

Above: A young visitor using a small telescope often used by children with albinism in the classroom.

The story of young Hassan

Hassan had been in the dark for three years when he finally came to KDEC, thanks to the hard work and persuasion of his parents by our community based worker.

Hassan had surgery in December in one eye and now can see!

The first photograph on the right shows Hassan before his operation, the second shows him after the operation.

We only have space to record some of the many events which have taken place over and above all the patients seen and in need of eye care during November.

Apart from those treated at the eye centre,179 cataract operations were carried out at an eye camp in a remote area. Fortunately, Dr Roger Humphry, ophthalmic consultant surgeon and regular visitor from Eyes for East Africa UK, was on hand to share the work load.

We would like to thank the Rotary Club of North Wirral in UK who kindly donated funds to add to others already received allowing us to order a replacement steriliser for use in the operating theatre.

‘Eye Go Fishing’

Twenty boats took to sea North of Mombasa early on Sunday 22nd November to help save sight by taking part in our annual charity fishing competition.

Thanks to a huge amount of support from the local community the event was a success again this year.

The winners of prizes for the largest catch are shown in the first photograph on the right.

Liaison Insurance were the main sponsors for the fourth year running, donating Ksh100,000 (around USD 1,500) to the event.

The second photograph on the right shows Danson Kaba from Liaison Insurance presenting the cheque for Ksh 100,000 to Dr. Helen Roberts.

Kwale District Eye Centre and all the people who benefit from their work would like to thank all our generous supporters in raising just over USD 5,000 overall.

Other local supporters include Richard Woodall, better known as ‘Truly Wonderful’, the well known local architect who designed our main building.

Richard is selling a book all about his life in Kenya with proceeds going to two local charities, Kwale District Eye Centre being one of them.

The third photo on the right shows Richard selling a copy of his book to our equipment support engineer, Marc Hawley.

Marc not only buys things to support the charities but maintains all our complicated electronic and optical equipment free of charge.

Many thanks to you both from us all.

'Eye Give' Programme

Donors in UK continue to support us through the ‘Eye Give’ programme run by Eyes for East Africa UK. Details can be found on the Shop page of the website. Why not ease your Christmas gift problems by seeing how you can help our patients by sending someone an ‘Eye Give’ gift ?

Life at Kwale District Eye Centre has, as usual, been very busy with visits from many supporters; some from Germany including Dr Stefan Vogel, the Netherlands and the UK - including a trustee of Eyes for East Africa UK (EFEA) who is with us for the third time this year, and the Stalmans family.

We also look forward to the arrival in early November of Dr Roger Humphry the Honorary Ophthalmic Consultant from EFEA. We shall be making use of his expertise at an eye safari in a distant part of the country suffering from the prolonged drought. Fortunately there has been plenty of rain here at the coast in recent days.

World Sight Day

October saw the celebration of World Sight Day the theme this year being ‘Gender and Eye Health—equal access to care’.

The eye centre played its part at a local school on 8th October.

In many developing countries, men’s access to eye care is twice that of women. Women were encouraged to seek eye care more frequently than at present.

Of the 250 people present, about 150 were women, and their attendance was praised by the area chief, Ms Khafsa Khalfan.

Meanwhile, the school children received eye health awareness education from our Low Vision Therapist Mohammed Almasi, with the help of an eye model.

The top picture on the right shows the children who were fascinated by the enlarged eye model which Mohammed Almasi used to get his points across

To illustrate how difficult it is to be blind, games were played using blindfolds.

Shani, a young girl, who took part in the games, commented how difficult it must be to be blind and how important her sight was to her.

All the children promised to be our ambassadors promoting eye health.

The picture on the right shows Shani who fully understands the value of sight.

Reluctance to accept rehabilitation training

Taken from a report by KDEC Rehabilitation Officer. M. Mwachepha

Fatima (54) has become blind from glaucoma. She now lives with her parents after her husband left her because she was not able to carry out normal domestic duties. When her sight began to fail, her condition was referred to our community based worker (CBW) by the village health committee. Fatima was visited several times to persuade her to take advantage of KDEC’s eye care service. Her response was always “I’m too busy, I can’t leave my business, my eyes are not aching yet”.

Eventually she became completely blind and was finally brought to a routine screening in the village, where it was confirmed her blindness was irreversible.

She has been encouraged yet again to seek professional help by registering in the Community Based Rehabilitation Programme. She continues to refuse help and remains severely handicapped because of her blindness being unable to venture outside the hut without a guide. She fears the unknown and has become aggressive to others, particularly when being helped with personal hygiene matters.

Her refusal of professional help, in spite of encouragement from her family, friends and our staff means she remains a burden to those closest to her. If she could overcome her fears, her life could be so much better. Once more she could be a productive member of the community as so many other irreversibly blind patients have become through acceptance of the help on hand. We and her family can only continue to try.

We’ll let you know how the story develops.

Above: Irreversably blind due to glaucoma, Fatima continues to refuse help.

This month we highlight our work with deaf and blind patients.

It is very hard for people without disabilities to communicate with those who are both deaf and blind. 'Normal people' often find it difficult to interpret expressions of happiness or disappointment, like or dislike. It is fundamental therefore that families with deafblind members learn to communicate effectively with them.

Together with Sense International, we created a workshop in which a teacher with many years experience of working with deaf blind children visited the homes of our deafblind clients, together with our Community Based Worker and deafblind supervisor.

It was amazing how much difference the mutual understanding and ability to express a few words made to these families. Simple things like 'I need water, food. I feel cold, hot' etc caused hoots of delight as it became evident that both disabled and normal family members enjoyed this new ability.

Above: Community worker conducting family communicating training

The story of deaf blind Asha

Asha aged 8 was born deaf and blind. Her family are embarrassed by her. They don't want people to see her. Most of the time she is forced to stay inside the hut and furthermore, her father believes that the family have been cursed by her birth.

Cowering against the hut with only a goat to talk to Asha tries to make herself as small and insignificant as possible.

Help is on hand in the form of our Community Based Worker accompanied by a teacher trained in teaching deaf blind people, to speak to Asha's parents.

KDEC visited Asha's home to explain that far from being a curse, Asha is a human being and one of their children. If they accept this, we can teach them to communicate better with Asha and perhaps her lot in life may improve.

Above: Asha (left) cowering against the hut while our community worker tries to make the family (right) accept her and her disability

In Africa we come across this attitude all the time. The only way to help people like Asha is create understanding and acceptance of disabilities.

More support from our UK donors

The Great North Run half marathon from Newcastle, UK

Dr Monika Böhm of the post-doctoral research team from the Institute of Zoology, London, told Eyes For East Africa UK some months ago she was planning to take part in the Great North Run on 20th September. She has been living in the UK for thirteen years.

Monni learnt of the work of the eye centre from her father in Germany, who together with one of his neighbours who had previously visited the eye centre, supports many other worthwhile causes in Africa.

Monni completed the half marathon in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 38 seconds, a very creditable time. Monni finished around 15,200 out of the 50,000 entrants.

Thanks to Monni and her many supporters in the UK, over 1,000 Pounds sterling (approximately USD 1,600) has been raised so far and the final total is expected to be USD 5,000 when all donations are received including one from the "Stiftung pro Afrika” Foundation in Germany.

Photographs:

The top photo on the right shows Monika Bohm after the Great North Run

The second photo shows Monika wearing her T-shirt advertising Eyes for East Africa UK.

Sibford School

Our thanks go to the year 8 pupils of Sibford School in Oxfordshire, UK who as part of their Citizen curriculum last summer raised money for Eyes for East Africa UK through a variety of methods including a triathlon relay, cake bake sale, guessing how many sweets there were in a jar and face painting. Well done ‘Miss’ - otherwise known as Zoë Connor - who found our website on the internet.

Thanks to the funds raised by the school, James aged 9 had his sight restored.

His left eye was injured by a stick two years ago while tending the family goats when passing through some thick bush.

He developed cataract and his school work suffered.His parents took him to a traditional healer, who of course could do nothing to help.

He was found by our screening team on a routine visit to his village and brought to KDEC for a sight restoring operation.

He has asked us to thank those who helped restore his sight and now wants to work hard to catch up on his school work.

Above: James after surgery, happy that he can see with both eyes again

Eye Centre examines core programs - not isolated from world financial crisis

The world credit crisis has affected charitable organisations worldwide profoundly. Giving to charity is one of the first things which people cut down on if things are tight. Both CBM and SSI anticipate a 30 percent reduction in their budget award to us for 2010. This means that KDEC has to look very clearly at its core goals. Our main activity is to provide affordable accessible eye care. In addition we provide more comprehensive care by taking care to the home or school for children with low vision or those who are blind.

The distance we can go and the number of people we can access and assist will necessarily be less with fewer funds coming in. We hope that after 15 years of work and creation of awareness in the area, those who need help may be able to access us under their own arrangements.

In order to raise more funds we need to see more people who can pay. A donor from Germany recognises the need to market the Centre more widely. So we have put a 30 second advert on the large electronic screen at Likoni Ferry 10 km from us on the way into Mombasa. The crossing is used by about 800,000 people daily, both rich and poor. More signposts are going up along the main road for the same purpose.

We have appointed Catherine Jakaiti, our long term administrator to the new position of fundraiser. She targets local and international companies who have a policy of Corporate Social Responsibility.

The photographs on the right show two of the advertisements used at Likoni Ferry.

Glaucoma numbers still high

Glaucoma is the second commonest cause of blindness in Kwale. The trend we reported previously in the number of people detected and treated with glaucoma continues.
With our rebound tonometer we can check eye pressure painlessly and quickly in the field
and are identifying more glaucoma sufferers earlier in their disease. This shows how important it is to have portable, accurate and easy to use machines backed up by good community based work and quality surgery

The photograph on the right shows an infant being screened for glaucoma in the field.

New cataract surgeon appointed

Lillian Nyaboga spent six months at the turn of last year with us as part of her training at the Kenya Medical Training Centre.

She passed her final exams and recently began full time work with us, helping to reduce the pressure on other staff.

The photograph on the right shows Lillian at work in the Outpatients Department.

Accreditation by Kenya National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF)

KDEC has been recognised as a provider of quality eye services and granted accreditation to NHIF which means that some patients can reclaim part of their costs.

Networking too-weak-for-surgery

Mnyazi was born blind due to cataract. He cannot have sight restoring surgery as he would almost certainly not survive the anaesthesia in his current state of health.

We referred him to the government District Nutritionist, who has supplied fortified nutrition to build up both mother and son’s strength.

At present Mnyazi remains blind, but he is gaining weight.

The photograph on the right shows Mnyazi who is in need of nutrition before surgery.

Donation to KDEC by Inner Wheel Club of Mombasa

“Behind every successful man, there is a woman”

The women behind the Rotarians, the Inner Wheel Club of Mombasa, presented a cheque to Dr. Roberts.

The photograph on the right shows the Inner wheel club of Mombasa presenting cheque to Dr Roberts.

Breaking barriers

The story of John Kenga from a report by Juma Kali Supervisor of our deaf-blind team

Five-year old John Kenga is deaf and blind and lives in a remote village over 35 Kms from a main road.

We went to meet the village headman, Mzee Kazungu, John ’s grandfather, who has many head of cattle, nine wives and many children and grand children. So many in fact that he had the idea of starting a school for them and he built it himself. Later other children attended it too.

This elderly headman, despite his resourcefulness, did not use it to help grandson John.

Our aim was to get this influential man, not only to participate actively in John’s rehabilitation and follow up measures, but also use his authority to give encouragement to parents of other deaf-blind children in need of professional help.

Often the mothers did not realise that anything could be done and because the father was a herdsman and not often at home to make decisions about seeking assistance from an outside agency.

Mzee Kazungu knew the location of both KDEC and the deaf school, but did not know that there was a deaf-blind unit within this school at Kwale from which John might benefit at a future date.

Over several visits we explained to him the importance of community based rehabilitation involving family and the community and the training it entails. He learnt that
his grandchildren can stimulate John’s development through play.

When this information had sunk in we discussed his possible role in enhancing the rehabilitation process for John and others like him and he readily accepted the challenges with enthusiasm.

For us, it was the breakthrough we had been hoping for.

Above: John Kenga experiencing different textures on a motorbike

Above: Mzee Kazunga with deafblind supervisor Juma Kali (right)

Above: Mzee Kazunga’s grandchildren happy to know that John will benefit from professional help thanks to the eye centre deaf-blind programme

Dr Helen Roberts visits the UK

In mid-July Dr Helen dined with the Rotary Club of Fleet in North East Hampshire, while on a visit to UK.

The club which has provided support to KDEC every year since 1995, was very pleased to have the chance to meet her after all this time and to learn at first hand, things about the eye centre they didn’t know already.

Several of the club members with their wives and friends have visited KDEC while on holiday at the Kenya coast. Two Eyes or East Africa UK trustees are Club members whilst other members have also provided support to the charity over a number of years.

We would like to thank the club and all its members for their wonderful support over the last 14 years and also in encouraging other rotary clubs in UK to support us.

Above: Dr Helen with Rotary Club of Fleet President Brian Dyer and Rotarians David Steers (left) and Jim Crow (right)

Rotary Club of North Wirral sponsors three Eye Camps

Earlier this year, Kwale District Eye Centre received £2,500 pounds sterling from the Rotary Club of North Wirrall (UK) to provide eye care in the community.

This generous donation was enough to carry out three well attended eye camps in our area.

In total 302 adults and 74 children were screened for eye diseases and of these 51 patients went on to the Eye Centre for surgery where 45 of them underwent cataract surgery.

A further 152 people benefited from eye drops and 118 reading glasses were dispensed.

Members of the village communities, where eye screenings took place, appreciated the eye health services provided.

Here are two of the comments we heard from patients.

A lady who had her sight restored through surgery said; “I was blind for two years. Cataract surgery has enabled me to see again. I can see my grand-children and do my house chores. I no longer sit alone in my hut. I am independent”.

One man who had cataract surgery said; “Because I was blind, my son had to take care of me all the time. He took me to the toilet and cooked food for me. He looked after the family cattle and goats. He could not go to school. Now that I can see again, he can go to school”.

Many children with eye problems benefited from eye drops.

One mother whose child received treatment said “I wish there were sponsors for such eye camps every month in our village. Eye doctors would come to this village to treat eye diseases. My child’s eyes are no longer sticky and discharging”.

There are many people in rural areas with potentially blinding eye problems but they simply cannot access eye services because of cost and distances involved. The support from Rotary Club of Wirral enabled this community to access eye care services.

The five photographs shown on the right show some of the work sponsored by the Rotary Club of North Wirral.

Editors Note:

The Rotary Club of North Wirral joins the growing number of Rotary Clubs in the UK who appear in our list of supporters shown on the Supporters page of this website.

If your club is considering providing a donation and would like more details, please contact either:

The Rotary Club of Fleet (District 1140) who have supported us for almost fifteen years

or

Eyes for East Africa UK, which can be contacted through this website.

Above: Villagers welcome the eye screening team

Above: Awareness session on eye health before eye camp

Above: Member of village health committee testing vision

Above: Patients waiting to go for cataract surgery

Above: Patients after surgery sponsored by Rotary Club of North Wirral

Fundraising in Kenya - Safaricom Diani Rules 2009

The first weekend in June saw much fun happening on the glorious beach at Diani on the south coast.

The event started in the early 1990’s to persuade people that life did not come to a complete stop during the rainy season and that much fun could be had, at the same time raising money for good causes. This year was no exception.

We would like to thank Safaricom our major sponsor for their contribution of Kshs 1million, and all those who took part in the many beach games and social events.

A grand total of Kshs 1.7 Million (around ten thousand US dollars) was raised for Kwale District Eye Centre.

What went on at Diani Rules can be seen on their own website or on Facebook .

The two photos on the right give a glimpse of events for readers who only want a flavour of the fun.

Above: Some of the participants (spot the Doc..)

Above: Diani Rules - Beachgame in progress

Fundraising elsewhere

Val Williams from UK has been raising money for Africa for many years and heard about our work through Manlio, a friend in Kenya. Manlio's wife Susan Blansetti was Lady Captain of Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club in Nairobi during 2006 and featured in our April 2007 news report when she made a donation to Kwale District Eye Centre after reading about us. Sadly, she died soon afterwards.

To date Val has raised almost £1,000 from all over the world to support our work. Dr Helen met her at last for the first time after lots of nattering on the email, just before going to the opera at Fort Jesus.

Above: Dr Helen (left) with Manlio and Val Williams

Modern Management at KDEC

We are pleased to announce that after the inevitable difficulties in defining what was wanted, a new software package has been successfully installed and commissioned this month to improve the administration and management of the eye centre. The proprietary software, known as Eye Clinic© was developed by Paul Schwarz and his team from Media and Software Studio (MSS) in Mombasa "http://www.mss.co.ke".

The project represents a major improvement in our ability to store, manage and extract information, which is done via a database with secure access through a web browser on a networked intranet. The system maintains patient records and allows us to produce research information much more easily. It automatically interfaces with our QuickBooks accounting system. Because it runs on a web browser, there is no requirement for desktop software and does not require a dedicated server.

Key capabilities of the system include:

• Providing concurrent multi-users access by different departments using password access. Most importantly it provides security through automated data back-up
• Production of receipts for patient payments and treatment details, locking the records after printing
• Producing daily financial reports and an audit trail.
• Creating a wide range of reports using “BIRT” (Business Intelligence Reporting Tools) taking account of patient confidentiality where necessary
• Maintaining sponsorship and donation records as well as funding allocations and approvals.
• Running a stock control and low stock notification function, thus allowing drugs and surgical items to be reordered at the right time.

We have already experienced big operational advantages, reducing the amount of paper records and filing. Human error in transferring data and the possibility of record tampering has been eliminated. We are also saving time in a number of key functions.

Carbon Zero Status

Not content with our new computer package, we have also been granted Carbon Zero status during a recent ‘green’ survey. Whatever next !

But Patients are why we exist

Remote Safari brings hope to a young girl

4-year old Mary Lolkal was a happy girl. Her mother realized that she had white ‘spots’ when she was 4 months old. She did not know what to do. A visit to the local hospital confirmed that the child was blind, but nothing could be done about it as the hospital did not have the expertise and facilities to operate on her.

KDEC has been running eye missions to Kakuma, a remote area, for seven years. The mother learnt about the eye doctor’s visit and Mary had surgery on both eyes. The following day, the child didn’t heed the doctor’s advice of resting after surgery. She and the mother were seen jumping up and down, singing in joy for being able to see the beauty of the world.

This is what KDEC can bring to the under-served communities and most importantly when it comes at such an early age allowing this child to go to school normally.

Above: Shy Mary has the bandages removed

Fundraising in Kenya - Touch Rugby on Diani Beach

20 international teams played touch rugby on the beautiful sands of Diani Beach to raise money for the eye centre on the second weekend of May.

“It's a tough game” said Dr Roberts, Medical Director of KDEC, who was playing for the Beach Bar Beauties; “passing the ball backwards just doesn't come naturally”.

Clearly she's a fast learner, as she scored a try for her side minutes after making this comment. See the two photographs on the right.

The event, aired on DSTV, became very exciting as the veteran’s team battled it out with the young team of beach boys trained up in the weeks before by local rugby guru and leader of the event, George Barbour.

Experience won but it was close. Newick Rugby Football Club from the UK won the event overall and look forward to returning next year to defend their title.

Above: Dr Helen Roberts grabs the ball.

Above: Dr Helen Roberts scores a try.

This month we highlight some of our supporters in UK

We have several hundred KDEC supporters in UK. Some are visitors who have been on holiday here at the Kenya coast and have heard of the Eye Centre either by word of mouth or through visiting us or our charity shop in Diani. Others are personal or professional friends of Dr Helen Roberts or members of her team.

In addition there are schools, Rotary Clubs, church groups and similar organisations, often with links to East Africa. Some of these are listed on ‘Our Supporters’ page on the website which includes those who are regulars.

The number of supporters grow year by year as word spreads about our work and for this we are grateful.

Your resourcefulness in raising money is amazing- sponsored events such as cycle rides, marathon running, writing a play, events at schools ... the list is endless.

Your support needs to be channelled to us in an efficient way and this is done by Eyes for East Africa UK (EFEA), a charity which exists solely to help us by providing publicity and fundraising support. Their contact details are shown elsewhere on the site.

The charity is run entirely by volunteers. They have procedures in place to ensure that we spend all donations wisely.

In addition to running their own fundraising events, for example a book sale at Portsmouth University, as shown in the top photograph on the right, they make time to create regular newsletters circulated to our UK supporters.

The majority of individual UK donations are less than £150. The popular 'Eye Give' distant giving scheme explained on our ‘Shop’ page is run by Eyes for East Africa UK.

Thanks to the Gift Aid scheme applicable to UK taxpayers, the charity is able to increase the value of most personal donations by 25%, which is a very valuable contribution.

Some of our patients cannot afford to pay for the treatment they require. In such cases we dip into the Poor Patients Fund kept topped up by donations, often from UK, made specifically to assist such cases.

The contributions made by our supporters both in UK and overseas are vital to the operation of KDEC. In these difficult financial times please continue to help us if you can.

Thank you.

The three photographs on the right show some of the patients who have been treated or received rehabilitation training as a result of your generosity.

Above: EFEA Book sale at Portsmouth University Business School

Above: The smiles say it all for these patients after cataract surgery funded by donors

Above: Post operative patients learning the correct use of eye drops

Above: Once you have learnt how to use your cane you can get to market says the rehabilitation officer (on the left).

Help for those in the community with Albinism

Report compiled by Kai Kafehamu - Comprehensive eye services manager

Kwale District Eye Centre (KDEC) has been working against discrimination of people with albinism.

Culturally, giving birth to an albino child was considered morally unacceptable. Albino children have always been regarded as a life time misfortune for the family and the community attributed the condition to the belief that it was acquired during pregnancy when the expectant mother had a sexual relationship with devilish spirits. The result in most cases was divorce.

Albino children were generally hidden and grew up in an atmosphere of discrimination and stigmatisation of both the family and the child. When food was short, the albino child was the one who went without. When disease struck, the albino child was the last to be treated, if at all. Albino children suffer eye and skin diseases if preventive measures are not taken and many died at a very early age, mostly before the age of 10.

Thanks to KDEC’s staff in the community, parents of albino children, village health committees, women groups and teachers in primary schools now understand that albinism is a natural condition and should be treated like any other form of disability. They learn how to take care of the children and are made aware of the rights of people with albinism. As a result, more and more people in our area, particularly children, are being identified and referred to Kwale District Eye Centre for help.

Usually albinos have low vision.KDEC carries out assessments, provides glasses and low vision devices and helps to integrate these kids into mainstream education with their peers. Albino children are no longer ridiculed or discriminated against in schools or at home.

As we reported in August 2007, with the help of nearby tourist hotels, guests are encouraged to donate their unwanted sun creams to KDEC when they leave. These are given out together with donated sunglasses, long-sleeved shirts and trousers to protect albino children from excessive sun damage.

Above: A young albino girl receiving a supply of sun cream donated by hotel guests.

Above: Village Women’s Group with their reward for effectiveness in bringing eye care awareness to their community.

The success of this Community programme is attributed to four factors :

• Strong collaboration with Ministry of Health facilities in our area such as dispensaries and health centres
• A very strong working relationship with the Ministry of Education, who integrate albino children in primary schools
• The Department of Social Services who ensure social inclusion of people with disabilities particularly the albino children
• Local hotels who collect unwanted sun-block

Now albino children stand a chance of leading a more normal life.

Eye Safari in the Taita Hills

Report compiled by Dr Hatim Yusu Fali, attached to KDEC, & Field supervisor Mwachamako Hassan

With the help and support of the Ministry of Health, the Ophthalmic Clinical Officer for Voi hospital, Mr George Mwadegu, District Officers and area chiefs we carried out an eye safari at Taita, some 150 kms from KDEC.

Without the publicity generated by local officials these events cannot succeed.

Here we tell two of the many the success stories of the patients who benefited from the event.

Baba Msila’s Story

Baba Msila is 70 years old and walked for three hours to reach the screening site with his daughter-in-law.

He was blind due to cataracts in both eyes. During examination he was also found to be suffering from glaucoma.

The combination of high pressures in both eyes and dense cataracts raised doubts about the success of any surgical procedure.

The following day, Dr. Sebastian Briesen performed combined surgery on Msila’s left eye (for cataract and glaucoma), which was the more promising eye if there was to be any chance of restoring sight.

The patient’s smile in the photo taken after the operation speaks for itself. He was so happy that he could see again in one eye.

At least now he would be able to see his grandchildren, walk around un-aided and count his chicken on the farm.

In his final words when we left him he prayed for us and asked God to give us good health and healing in our hands to help more people like him and to continue with our good work.

Above: Baba Masila before surgery

Above: Baba Masila, after surgery for glaucoma and cataract with Dr Breisen and a Nurse

Old Michael

This is another patient who has been blind for many years with bilateral cataracts.

He lives alone, his parents are deceased and he has no siblings nor does he have any family of his own.

Once again the smile speaks for itself.

Above: Old Michael the day after surgery

….and finally

Dr Helen recently attended a course near Nairobi said to be on the wilder aspects ophthalmology as illustrated in the following pictures.

Above: This looks fun ..	Above: ..perhaps not so easy after all	Above: Oops or even Help!

No time to stand still at the eye centre