Eye Camp

The first project I got to participate in was one they called "Eye Camp". One of our amazing volunteers had worked hard for weeks to put this together, and this was the first day of it. How lucky I was to be there! We (as in HELP International) partnered with an organization called Sight Savers to do a series of outreach eye clinic days in various small villages around Lugazi. I think there were a total of 14 over about 8 days. It was free to anyone who came and they received vision testing, glasses and/or medication if necessary, and some were approved for surgery which will be provided at Kawolo hospital by Sight Savers doctors. Most of the surgeries were for cataracts, which is easily treatable. We will be providing the transportation to and from the hospital and food for them while they are there.

Simple, yet totally life changing for these people. I can't believe how many of them had been living with extremely poor vision or couldn't see at all out of one eye or both. Also, many of the people suffered from severe allergies that could be helped by a simple bottle of eye drops. I wondered how long they had just simply dealt with these things. Most of these people cannot afford the 25 cents for the bus to the clinic, let alone the cost of a doctor's visit.

Waiting for their turn . . .

When we arrived there were people who had been waiting since 7am. By the time we got started more and more were gathering. That day, we ended up screening over 130 people. When I left Uganda, our volunteers had helped over 1000 people and had 70+ surgeries scheduled. I was so proud of the time, effort and collaboration that went into this and glad that I could participate for the short time I had.