Optometry students volunteer in Nepal When the opportunity arose to travel to Nepal to undertake some volunteer work, it immediately sparked our interest. To be honest, neither of us knew much about Nepal – all we knew was that it was a third-world country and where the famous Mt. Everest was located. On 14 November 2014 we set off for Nepal for two weeks. The plane ride was approximately 14 hours in duration with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur before landing in Kathmandu. When we arrived in Nepal, we distinctly remember walking outside of the airport and being greeted by a bunch of friendly Nepalese people, with whom we would be working alongside for the following two weeks. During the first few days of the trip we met the Rotary Club volunteers from Sydney, as well as the Rotary Club volunteers from Nepal. We had welcome dinner and drinks, followed by a slideshow from previous eye camps. The Rotary Club is a not-for profit organisation that encourages and fosters the advancement of international goodwill, peace and provides help through meaningful world community service projects. This specific eye camp was to provide eye services to those in need and to those who have difficulties accessing basic eye care. The eye camp has been taking place for many years now and is run by Jason Booth, an Optometrist from Flinders Vision Eye Clinic. The eye camp involved travelling to remote
villages in a bus and two cars to cater for the large team of approximately 40 volunteers. Each day the group split up into three separate teams. The first team was in charge of measuring a person’s visual acuity (how well they can see), this group was known as the ‘screeners’ and they decided who needed to see the optometrist, depending on their level of vision. The next group consisted of six optometrists, who, with our help, measured the patient's refractive error (power they need for glasses) and determined whether the patient would benefit from having glasses, as well as screening for some commonly encountered eye conditions. If the individuals needed glasses, they would visit the next team who were dispensers. They were involved in the fitting and supplying of the glasses as recommended by the optometrist. This became one big assembly line; the local people would sign up first thing in the morning, then line up until late in the afternoon. The number of people who signed up to get their eyes checked each day ranged from 500 to over 1000. We would start our day at 6.30am for breakfast and finish at 5pm. This continued over many days, with some people coming from faraway villages just to visit the eye service. We were fortunate enough to service over 6616 people at eight campsites—in regions such as Kapilbastu, Dang, Banke and Surkhet Districts of Nepal. As optometry students it was an invaluable experience, as we were able to practice our skills while being mentored by optometrists
Pictures include the line-up (above), screening and treating, being greeted on arrival in Nepal and a thankful glasses recipient
June 2015
who had over 20 years of experience in running these volunteer eye clinics. It was extremely helpful to pick their brains and learn as much as possible from them. It was also valuable for our education to encounter some rare eye conditions, including infections, hereditary disorders and very severe cataracts (cloudiness of the lens inside of the eye), that you only see infrequently, if at all, in Australia due to better access to quality health-care. Overall, the eye camp was one of the best things we have ever experienced. Not only was it extremely rewarding and lots of fun, but also we were lucky enough to have met the most incredible people along the way. The fellow Rotarian members and the Nepalese team are like family to us now. It really is an experience of a lifetime and I would recommend for anyone that has the opportunity to go; volunteers are always needed. We can’t wait to go again! Jose Estevez & Lilian Tjia Master of Optometry students