Dear friends,

This is a long overdue update on the pediatric ophthalmology project in Nepal, that you helped to fund earlier this year. Things moved slowly in getting the project started due to political unrest in Nepal, along with delays in finding equipment at a price that fit within the projectıs budgeted amount.

Eye camps to screen children have been held in the Sukumbasi area of Nepal, and will continue. Some congenital cataract cases that need operations have been identified and will be operated on shortly. There was a long delay in getting the vitrectomy machine (necessary for operations) cleared from the Nepalese customs house, but it is now installed and is being used. The surgeries will be at no cost to the patients, and will be conducted at the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Gopa, Dharan.

We expect that once the screening has been completed in Sukumbasi, the project will move into another area.

Your funds have gone towards:

  • Weekly eye screening camps for children
     
  • Free medications for children with eye infections, and treatment of simple cases that donıt require a hospital stay.
     
  • Training for local village health professionals
     
  • Health education for the local community through posters and lectures
     
  • Purchase of a vitrectomy machine and other instruments to carry out eye surgery in children. Now that the machine has been installed, children will be brought to the hospital for free surgery and hospital stay.

Attached are a few photos of some of the eye camps, along with a photograph of the operating room with the vitrectomy machine and staff.

I hope to have more detailed information on the project as it gets up to speed. It has taken a long time to get things moving, but now that equipment is in place and the political situation in Nepal has improved, I anticipate an increased level of activity.

Thank you for joining with me to support this project. Every dollar you donated will have significantly large returns for the investment.

Best wishes to all of you for a very happy new year!

Jeanne Herbert

 

12/29/08