Our team headed to Gondar in August, with an eight-person volunteer group that included two oculoplastic surgeons, three EMTs and three laypeople. Our tireless team hit the ground running. Over one week we oversaw our Cataract Campaign where 291 patients from and around Gondar, including patients from the Jewish community, received sight-restoring cataract surgery. We did doctor training in the hospital, completed 15 complex oculoplastic surgeries, trained 65 medical staff at Gondar University Hospital in CPR and First Aid, spent three days in the rural villages of Kola Diba, Azzezo, Tadda, and also in the Jewish Compound providing primary eyecare through our On-site Eyecare clinics. We also returned to the area of Kola Diba where there is a large population of displaced people, including war widows and orphans from the recent civil war. We brought donations of clothing, did eye checks, and trained 8 people in basic First Aid.
We came back with lots of ideas for future initiatives for medical work, and for training of locals to help promote self sufficiency. We are hard at work planning for 2023, including dates of our trips, and ways for volunteers to apply to join us.
