Artificial Eye Clinic In East Timor

I’ve just arrived back from a week long clinic in East Timor.  I was quite shell shocked when I arrived there. The logistical difficulties of setting up the clinic were immense.

It really pays, if you are considering doing a clinic in a third world country, to be incredibly organised.  

Although I arrived with no expectations I certainly under estimated how tough it was going to be.  The communication was my biggest challenge. There are four languages spoken and english is the least common.  

To establish a clinic like mine, you really needs to take absolutely everything that you are going to need. The very few assumptions I made created significant problems for me.  

For example, butane gas lighter refills just weren’t available anywhere.  

Running water was not available in the clinic space.  I had an open window for a sink and bottled water for washing hands.

Time is not regarded in the same way in Timor.  No matter what time I made appointments for people they all showed up at the crack of dawn.  I would arrive to find a crowd waiting for me - forget the quiet morning coffee!  Not that there was a kettle!

By the weeks end I’d managed to make eleven eyes and some good friends.  I had to work very differently in this clinic.  

As time and resources were scarce I started with stock eyes. They were reshaped to get the fit and focus right.  I then made moulds of the eyes and touched up the colour.  This enabled me to finish these eyes in the three days that I had to work with.

I am looking forward to going back to the East Timor Clinic some time next year.  With this first visit out of the way I now have a better understanding of the challenges.  Next time I’ll be better organised, with a hospital clinic space, a translator and more experience of how things work.

I kept a diary of my experiences in Timor and I’m looking forward to writing a longer article for the website.

I will never take running water for granted again!

Posted in Emotional Response To Eye Loss. Permalink for this post: permalink. If you are a Digg user, please  Digg this post. |  Stumble It If you use use Del.icio.us, then add us in:  Del.icio.us


What do you think?

Leave a comment! Or send a trackback from your own blog.

RSS