Slit lamps are the work horses of eye care. These vital eye instruments are used by eye specialists to look at the front of the eye. The slit lamp is a low-power microscope combined with a high-intensity light source that can be focused to shine in a thin beam.

Thanks to the generosity of two Seva donors - Dr. Karen Moosbrugger, ophthalmologist, and Dr. Gee Hwang -- Seva was given two high-quality used slit lamps for our programs in the hills of Nepal. But we couldn't have got these bulky yet fragile instruments all the way to Nepal without the help and kindness of two great companies -- Pacific Medical and Cathay Pacific.

Seva Nepal staff, Shravan and Parami, unpack the two slit lamps at the Seva office in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo courtesy of © Ellen Crystal Photography.

"As soon as I learned that we had these amazing gifts, I turned to Pacific Medical for their expert help," said Heather Wardle, Development Director at Seva Canada. "Pacific Medical has always been supportive of Seva Canada and has helped us in the past to pack equipment for shipping to the developing world."

Pacific Medical, founded in 1997 by Drew Carlisle, serves eye care professionals in western Canada and is an industry leader in providing ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians and hospitals with the latest medical technology. "The team at Pacific Medical really went above and beyond the call of duty in checking the slit lamps, supplying all the spare parts and bulbs that we needed and carefully packing them for air transport to Nepal. They did all this free of charge, as a gift to Seva, and took great pride in making sure that the slit lamps were in perfect working order," said Ms. Wardle.

Cathay Pacific also helped by waiving the air freight charges, saving Seva hundreds of dollars. Now the slit lamps are being used to bring sight to some of the world's poorest people -- in the remote hills of Nepal where no eye care has gone before.

A patient in the hills near Dhankuta, Nepal has his eyes examined by Seva using a slit lamp