 |
| Me, all dressed up in the operating theatre |
Isolation makes it difficult to train health professionals; local medical centres often lack the expertise or the latest knowledge. Equipment is also hard to come by. Everything in the DR Congo is imported, and the journey up the river only adds to the already unaffordable prices for medical equipment.
Starting in 2013, however, a team of nine eye-doctors and opticians called Ophthalmology Worldwide decided to help the people of Basankusu in a remarkable show of kindness. They brought with them operating tables, microscopes, machines for looking into eyes, medicines, … gloves – in fact everything that was needed to run an eye-clinic. They ran their project for fourteen days and performed 1,676 consultations. They dispensed eye-drops, antibiotics, glasses – people even got sunglasses and a free hat.
They carried out 150 cataract operations on patients, some of whom had travelled one or two hundred miles – often on foot – to reach Basankusu. I was able to see first-hand the amazing work that they did by being appointed ‘official film-maker’ for their project. (here's the video I made) The clinic took place at Basankusu’s secondary – but Catholic run – hospital, managed by one of the local Sisters of St Theresa, Sr. Victorine, who is herself a doctor.
Starting in 2013, however, a team of nine eye-doctors and opticians called Ophthalmology Worldwide decided to help the people of Basankusu in a remarkable show of kindness. They brought with them operating tables, microscopes, machines for looking into eyes, medicines, … gloves – in fact everything that was needed to run an eye-clinic. They ran their project for fourteen days and performed 1,676 consultations. They dispensed eye-drops, antibiotics, glasses – people even got sunglasses and a free hat.
They carried out 150 cataract operations on patients, some of whom had travelled one or two hundred miles – often on foot – to reach Basankusu. I was able to see first-hand the amazing work that they did by being appointed ‘official film-maker’ for their project. (here's the video I made) The clinic took place at Basankusu’s secondary – but Catholic run – hospital, managed by one of the local Sisters of St Theresa, Sr. Victorine, who is herself a doctor.
“We called
in all our personnel, from the far reaches of the diocese, to help with eye
tests, and supporting tasks,” Sr. Victorine told me. “The people here are so
poor and we don’t have anyone to do this essential work.”
 |
| Dr Richard performs a cateract operation in Basankusu - Hilde assists |
I talked to
the doctors – who mostly come from Belgium – and they told me that the
eye-diseases were often at a very advanced stage, a situation that wouldn’t
exist in Europe. A lot of the patients were quite elderly, even so, the only
way they could be treated was to walk along the rough dirt tracks the great
distance to Basankusu. They each paid a token amount, about £1.50 for a
consultation and about £17 for a cataract operation. Even so, this amount, when
added to the cost of the journey, was too much for some patients. I’m happy to
say that these people got some help with that – and I was happy to use money
collected in Middlesbrough Diocese to help several people with fees and the
cost of their return journey.
 |
| The eye-doctors relax after another long day treating people with eye problems |
The doctors
of Ophthalmology Worldwide are going to make this an annual event – which
really is good news. But this story also highlights, what may seem like a
rustic rural setting, is really a place fraught with daily challenges that we
in Europe wouldn’t easily recognise.
-
Francis
Hannaway (Mill Hill Missionaries)
No comments:
Post a Comment