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From the Skies to the Streets, Eye Care Vehicles Unite in the Dominican Republic

Blog submitted by Perry Athanason

Perry Athanason is the Communications Manager on the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital and has been a member of the crew since November 2007.

“Let’s do something a bit different”—this is usually the verbal trademark of something new, fresh and exciting, which was definitely the case when I sat down to write the communications and advocacy plan for the Santo Domingo Flying Eye Hospital.

Our host, the AYBAR / CECANOT hospital, recently acquired two mobile eye vans as part of an initiative to deliver eye care into rural communities throughout the Dominican Republic. Wanting to strengthen the Flying Eye Hospital’s advocacy programs, I jumped at the chance to organize and launch two separate rural screening projects with our host. When I presented the plan, they too jumped at the chance and soon enough, the ORBIS team, along with the residents from AYBAR / CECANOT were locked in a 4-hour planning meeting to outline the details of the project.

For the first day’s project we targeted two communities in dire need of health education, awareness and screening of eye diseases prevalent in the Dominican Republic—most notably cataract and glaucoma. These two areas were Cristal Rey and Los Alcarrizo – both economically disadvantaged and identified by our hosts as areas in need of basic eye screening and education.

The team from ORBIS consisted of myself (Perry Athanason), Amelia Chamberlain, Gavin Wickham, Drs Srinivas S. Iyengar, Ekta Aggarwal, Sophia Pathai and volunteer associate ophthalmologist, Dr Grace Prakalapakorn from Emory University. We were joined by several resident ophthalmologists and nurses from AYBAR / CECANOT, volunteer translators and last, but not least, Radames Collado and Sylvia Marley from FedEx.

We met at the local hospital early in the morning and boarded our vans to the first location by 10:00 am. We were met by a community ambassador team led by congresswoman, Ms Cleo Sanchez. The team quickly organized the crowd and began the screening clinic, they worked flawlessly, examining each patient and moving them through the process. Radames and Sylvia were a great help escorting patients through each station and translating the experience for both the patients and the ORBIS staff.

By 1:00 pm the team had screened approximately 90 patients, of which roughly a third received appointments for further investigations and possibly surgery at AYBAR / CECANOT hospital—a service they will provide for free under the ORBIS partnership.

The second location was about an hour ride from the first location—into the outskirts of town. Again we were met by a community ambassador team who had organized the patients prior to our arrival. We were tired from the first screening and with daylight fading fast the ORBIS crew picked up the momentum just where they had left off and screened another 75 patients.

Our local host was very well organized in its presentation of these two clinics and with the support of community leaders such as Congresswoman Sanchez and other government officials, screenings such as these are becoming more frequent in the Dominican Republic. For example, the second screening day, scheduled for the last Friday of program, consisted of a much smaller team—myself and Dr Grace Prakalapakorn. We joined the residents in yet a third location; this one required a road-trip across the country to the north…near Santiago in a small town called Sancero. This screening was organized by the Lion’s Club and true to its reputation, was handled with care, organization and professionalism. As a member of an organization whose soul mission is to combat avoidable blindness worldwide, it is quite a feeling meeting others in the field with the same goal. To see their work, their passion and their love for the communities they serve, made me even more proud and honored to be doing this type of work.

I would like to say in closing that in my year and a half with ORBIS, I have never been more proud of the individuals who embraced this idea, brought their personal and professional experiences to the table and worked together to deliver this advocacy project to the people of the Dominican Republic—my hats off to the Flying Eye Hospital team!!!

Photos by Gavin Wickham

Esprit de Corps

Blog submitted by Grace Prakalapakorn

Grace attends Emory University, School of Medicine as an ophthalmology resident and volunteered for ORBIS for the first time as an Associate Ophthalmologist during the Flying Eye Hospital's visit to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Against the tropical backdrop of palm trees and blue waters, the ORBIS DC-10 Flying Eye Hospital made a perfect landing in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. On the ground, both crew and FedEx members eagerly awaited to welcome the plane.  As soon as it arrived, a bustle of activity ensued on board as both crew members and volunteers worked side-by-side to unpack the plane and prepare it for the weeks ahead.

For the remainder of its stay, the ORBIS team along with partnership from the local ophthalmology society, six local hospitals and FedEx worked tirelessly to complete a program that focused on building local capacity and public advocacy. Through screening days, surgical cases, symposiums and a public advocacy campaign involving mobile screening units, ORBIS was able to fulfill its goals.

Throughout the trip, there was continuous exchange of knowledge, ideas and skills. While the most overt example of this was though the direct transfer of knowledge and skills from the visiting faculty and nurses to their trainees, it also occurred in the reverse direction from the trainees to the visiting faculty and nurses though sharing of experiences and between the individual team members at all levels. What impressed me the most was how the ORBIS team members came together to work as a unit. The team members themselves were a diverse group that came from all over the world (including Canada, China, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States to name a few) and each member brought a unique skill set to the team via their different backgrounds in training (pilots, mechanics, engineers, nurses, doctors, etc …) and life experiences.

I enjoyed the opportunity to work with such a great and unique organization. Through its endeavors at capacity building, increasing local awareness about eye care and forming partnerships with local organizations and individuals, ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital’s impact on the community will extend well beyond its two-week tenure in Santo Domingo.

Photos by Perry Athanason

A New Year, New Country – Same Enduring Spirit

Thoughts at 31,000 feet above China/Russia border aboard the ORBIS DC-10

Making positive changes in people’s lives is at the heart of this organization and is why we all do what we do—from every aspect and every position within ORBIS, our bottom line is investing in people throughout the world—furthering the educational opportunities for doctors, treating patients who suffer from avoidable blindness or vision loss, nurturing the science and medicine of ophthalmology in societies already working hard to strengthen their abilities to help their people.

This became quickly apparent to me once again as the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital touched down in a country never visited before—the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos. The plane arrived on a Sunday and was greeted by the Lao President himself, his Excellency Choummaly Sayasone, who visited the plane shortly after we had converted it into hospital mode. He had visited our program during last year in Vietnam and had extended the invitation to bring the plane to his country and for the benefit of Lao people. We were also proud to welcome the Minister of Health, Dr Ponmeck Dalaloy, US Ambassador to Lao PDR, Mr Ravic Huso and several other dignitaries from the government cabinets. Each expressed their appreciation of our team, our programmatic approach and our unique hospital with wings.

One recurring comment shined through the week and was expressed by both the doctors participating in the program and those observing: ORBIS has come here to teach. This is the first time they had been given this type of educational opportunity and are extremely thankful.

Celebrating the Family of ORBIS

We arrived in Laos with a new team member, staff nurse Ms Beverly Tremlett, and a returning veteran, Ms Linda Tranchemontagne, who is back as head nurse. For 26 years nurses like Linda and Beverly have taken turns carrying the ORBIS torch, passing it lovingly from one generation to the next. 

This inaugural program also welcomed several first-time volunteer faculty members to the ORBIS family – Dr Shaun Singer from Canada, Dr Bazil Ateleanu from the UK, Dr William Yang from the US and a team from Wills Eye Hospital in the US: Dr Julia Haller, Dr L. Jay Katz and Dr Jonathan Myers. It’s always a treat to see people on the plane for the first time. Pictures and video of the ORBIS plane or its programs just don’t do justice compared to the real thing and their reactions definitely show. In conversations with the local doctors, each provided accolades in the teaching offered by our new, and returning, volunteer faculty. One particular impromptu teaching method during a “chalk talk” involving Dr Myer removing his shoelaces to better demonstrate his technique in suturing, an action that struck a few of the local doctors as both unique and very effective.

It was with that spirit that we were joined by a new partner, OptiMedica Corp, who generously donated the new PASCAL photocoagulator to the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital. Used to treat a variety of retinal diseases, PASCAL dramatically improves the physician’s ability to control the precision, safety and efficiency of the photocoagulation procedure, while minimizing treatment duration, treatment frequency and patient discomfort. During the two week program in Laos, we were honored to be joined by Mr Sean Teo and Mr George Marcellino from OptiMedica, who joined us to help introduce the PASCAL to the ORBIS staff and interested Lao doctors.

A Lao-style goodbye

The week ended with a traditional Lao-style celebration—a gift to the ORBIS team. Dr Vithoune Visonnavong, director Vientiane Ophthalmology Center, Ministry of Health keep promising me two particular items for this program celebration…beef and beer. Though I tried to explain that beef and a cold Coca-Cola would better suit my particular culinary interests, it just didn’t have that same allure and alliteration. The team danced, ate and graciously accepted the honor given to them though this celebration. Spending time in their world, celebrating their successes and embracing a newly created camaraderie in our mutual interest to combat avoidable blindness introduced yet another extension to the ORBIS family—an extension I hope we reunite in the near future.

 

Photos by Perry Athanason