Patient being carried to the Seva eye camp in Humla, Nepal.

From 25-27 September 2011, a Seva eye camp was held in Citta General Hospital in Simikot, the main town in the district of Humla, Nepal. In just two days, the team examined 700 patients performed 63 sight-restoring eye surgeries. Patients came from far away, some of them walking for 5 days to reach the camp and two patients walked 4 days to receive eye care. Humla District is in the far northwest corner of Nepal and is one of the poorest and most remote regions of the country. The population of Humla is around 75,000. There are no roads and access to the region is gained only by a small airstrip in the capital, Simikot. In winter, the airport is often blocked due to heavy snowfall. The eye camp was made possible thanks to generous donors in Canada and due to the hard work of Dr. Larry Louie, his wife Joanna Wong, and Wanda Vivequin -- who together organized a special event and film show in Edmonton.

The eye care equipment and supplies for the surgical eye camp in Humla, Nepal stacked up at the airport in Nepalgunj, including a generator, sterilizing equipment, etc.

Reaching Humla with all the staff and equipment needed to conduct a cataract surgical eye camp is a major undertaking. The Nepali eye camp team started their journey on September 23rd 2011 from the Lumbini Eye Institute in Butawal to Nepalgunj, a 5-hour journey. The next day the team was at the Nepalgunj airport at 6 a.m. where they waited for 5 hours before being told that all flights to Humla were cancelled due to bad weather. The next day, on September 25th, the team headed back to the airport at dawn. Although the weather was clear, elsewhere in Nepal a Buddha Air flight had crashed and the pilot of the plane to Humla was so upset that he refused to fly that day. On 26 September, at 4:30 a.m. the team received a call telling them to be at the airport at 5 a.m.  and they at last were able to fly to Simikot.

Some of the 700 outpatients waiting for eye care in Simikot, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Joanna Wong.

From the moment the team arrived, they were working with patients. Having lost precious days waiting for a flight, they had only 2 days to complete the camp so they worked steadily from early morning to late evening. One of the challenges in bringing eye care to poor and remote regions is letting people know that eye care is available. To spread the word in advance of the eye camp, messages about the camp were broadcast 4 times a day for a month through the FM radio station in Simikot, as well as for 7 days through Radio Nepal. Pamphlets were distributed through various channels such as the health post staff, school teachers, students and community leaders. To measure the effectiveness of various publicity vehicles, patients were asked during registration how they had heard about the Simikot Eye Camp and more than 90% of patients learned about the camp via FM radio.

Patients receiving eye care at Seva eye camp in Humla, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Joanna Wong

The eye camp was held at Citta Hospital in Simikot, a clean and well-managed hospital founded by Dr. Yeshe, who grew up in Humla. Dr. Yeshe and his team provided food for all the cataract surgical patients free of charge and also supplied hot water and blankets to all admitted patients. All the staff members of Citta Hospital, Dr. Yeshe and his wife worked as full time as volunteers at the eye camp, along with 6 student volunteers.

Kandel, Seva's program director in Nepal, examining patients in Humla. Photo courtesy of Joanna Wong

Mr. R.P. Kandel, Seva's Program Manager in Nepal managed the out-patient department and refraction and provision of eye glasses was done by the senior ophthalmic assistant,  Mr. Sanjeev Adhikari.  All patients who had both general health problems AND eye problems were referred to Dr. Yeshe for the treatment of their general health issues. Patients with complicated eye problems were referred to the ophthalmologist for further examination. Reading glasses, medicines and sunglasses were provided free of cost to all the patients who were at the eye camp. Seva donors and volunteers, Clasina van Bemmel and Joanna Wong, were actively involved in the distribution of eye glasses and medicines.

Seva donor and volunteer, Clasina van Bemmel, distributes glasses at a Seva eye camp in Humla, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Joanna Wong

The eye camp was very successful. 700 patients, young and old, were examined and 63 sight-restoring cataract surgeries were performed. All of the patients who had surgery received good vision after their operations. Medicine and spectacles were distributed free of charge and the patients were very happy to receive high-quality reading glasses at no cost.  Many patients received sunglasses and the children were especially happy to have these. Six patients were treated for corneal ulcers at the eye camp, preventing years of blindness and suffering. The eye camp team members were: •    Dr. Anil Sherchan,  ophthalmologist (surgeon) •    Sanjeev Adhikari,  ophthalmic assistant (refraction) •    Manohar Shrestha, ophthalmic  assistant (minor operating theatre procedures and local anesthesia) •    Indira Shrestha, ophthalmic assistant (operating theatre assistant) •    Jangali Kurmi Ninor,  (operating theatre, patient admission,  etc) •    Bhagawan Choudhary,  (operating theatre helper, sterilization) •    R.P. Kandel, Seva Program Manager  (patient examination) •    Clasina van Bemmel, Seva Canada donor and volunteer (helped distributing glasses and eye medicines) •    Joanna Wong, Seva Canada donor and volunteer (helped distributing glasses and eye medicines, photographer) •    Mr Raju (volunteer). Behind the scene, there were many members such as Dr. Yeshe, his wife, and staff working in Citta Hospital and many volunteers who were providing support for the patients.

Some funds were left over after the camp and will be used to fund a similar eye camp in the remote region of Bajhang, adjacent to Humla District.