Sight Restoration Program Soe Timor Tengah Selatan (TTS)
In September of this year FOHG collaborated with Yayasan Besi Pae www.besipae.org and several other stake holders to restore the sight of many residents from the surrounding area of TTT.
Over five days, over 2000 adults and children had their sight assessed. 1,034 pairs of glasses were distributed and 134 adults had their cataract removed, 16 patients were referred to Kupang for further treatment, as their cataract was too dense.
During this time a training program ran alongside the clinic, where five registrars from Udayana Medical Faculty https://fk.unud.ac.id/ gained hands on experience in identifying and operating on diseases of the eye, and two registrars joined the program and performed six cataract operations each, as part of their requirements to graduate as an ophthalmologist.
One GP from a Puskesmas, interested in training as an ophthalmologists participated in the program and two ophthalmologists from Kupang received mentoring from the Udayana ophthalmology team.
John Fawcett Foundation (JFF) https://johnfawcett.org/ - JFF provided a team of 18 people comprising nurses, medical technicians, optometrists and other support staff. FOHG and Dr David O’Rourke funded 11 people and JFF funded 7 people for the program. JFF provided all medical supplies for the cataract operations, glasses, prosthetic eyes, eye drops, eye testing equipment, medical equipment including microscopes. This is part of their normal program they implement throughout Indonesia, that includes visiting 2 schools. They are funded through a range of sources.
Yayasan Tampa Batas (YTB) https://www.ytbkupang.org/ 6 volunteers from YTB assisted the program to bring people from isolated communities to Soe. They supported 90 people, of which 60 were operated on for cataracts and 16 were referred to Kupang for further medical treatment.
Christian Blind Mission Australia (CBM) https://www.cbm.org.au/ CBM provided funding to YTB through their program with the Australin government (DFAT ANCP NGO program).
Indonesian Ophthalmology Association (Perdamai) Bali and Kupang Branch - https://perdami.or.id/web/ The activity is linked to Perdamai requiring all ophthalmologists to provide free mass cataract services to the poor. Five ophthalmologists from Perdamai participated in the program.
As always, the clinic would not have been able to run, or be as successful without the incredible and invaluable support of all the staff at Muder Ignacia Hospital. It was another highly successful clinic, building on the lessons learned and expertise from the previous year.
