Last month we were finally able to fulfil a promise to the village in rural Rasuwa that the majority of our sister organisation, Himalayan Quest’s porters come from, by running a free eye camp for them and the surrounding communities.
After a long, hot and monsoon affected journey that involved a washed out bridge and a nail biting crossing of a landslide prone area, we finally made it to Kalikastan to be met by the smiling faces of our porters Nima and Aaytae, alongside a couple of other villagers who had come to help carry our kit.
It was a relief to stretch our legs on the two hour walk to Parchang, soaking up the stunning views and fresh air to arrive just before dark, in time to put up our tents and enjoy a delicious supper of daal bhat.
We were up and early the next day ready to get cracking with the eye tests. Members of the community volunteered to help out with registration, the visual acuity tests and also translating for our two eye doctors, Dr Ravi and Dr Sanjeeb as many of the older generation only spoke Tamang.
The queues started early and lasted all day with some people walking for as long as four hours to have their eyes checked. In total we registered 612 patients but in reality saw nearer 620+ as our doctors still saw those who arrived after we had packed up and before we left the following morning. According to them that is the equivalent of two camps in one day!
On the whole the doctors were surprised at the quality of everyone’s eye sight and they put this down to a lack of pollution and a clean and green living environment, especially the green defusing the harsh glare of the sun.
Our doctors saw cases of eye trauma resulting in permanent damage in both young and old patients; glycoma; 15 over mature, inoperable cataracts; 9 patients with operable cataracts, including 3 bilateral cases, one in a 14 year old; chronic dryco cytosis and lots of lazy eyes in the children. There was also a family with 5 albino children four of whom are teenagers and one a baby, all who suffer from oculocutaneous albinism, resulting in severe sensitivity to light amongst other things.
228 pairs of reading glasses were dispensed and prescriptions written for those that needed them.
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A Himalayan thank you to everyone who made this eye camp the huge success it was. To our two eye doctors, Drs Ravi Poudel and Sanjeeb Misra from the B.P. Koirala Lions Centre of Ophthalmic Studies at the Kathmandu Teaching Hospital who worked tirelessly all day. To the Parchang Health Post for hosting us. To Nima, Hari Bushal and the rest of the organising committee for ensuring the necessary permissions were in place and for spreading the word thus ensuring those who wanted to be seen got the opportunity. To Krishna and Aaytae and their team for keeping us so well fed and watered through what was a very long day. To Trevor and Emory Hall for joining us on this camp and for their ongoing support of our projects. And last but not least, to Christina and Shankar Khadka and their donors for funding this much needed eye camp. Without their financial support this camp would never have happened.
Photo credits: Amrit Ale & Emory Hall