Humanitarian work has kept us busy lately. In the past 4 months we’ve traveled to Jamaica, Haiti and the Philippines. We have seen some wonderful places, met some wonderful people, and hopefully rendered some meaningful service. In May, my wife Micki and I made our first trip to Kingston, Jamaica to develop a new eye project. Kingston is a chaotic, vibrant city with plenty of need. The main public hospital is full of amazing physicians who see a large number of patients. They were in need of some new equipment and some training in a few more advanced oculoplastic procedures. We got their wishlist and will be planning a return trip in the future to deliver the equipment and operate side-by-side with them.
I returned alone to Haiti in May. We had started a new project developing a private clinic near the University Hospital. The aim of this clinic was to provide a place where newly graduated residents could work on both charity and paying patients. This would allow the residents a way to stay in the country and serve their own people, rather that seeking work in another country, which happens all too often. We provided money for renovating the clinic and buying equipment. They in turn promise to see a certain number of charity patients each month. It has been a good model that has worked in other areas. I also spent several days operating and teaching at the University Hospital. I finished up by traveling to Cange, a town located up in central Haiti, which is the site of a hospital built with the help of Dr. Paul Farmer many years ago. They have a growing eye clinic, which was also in need of new equipment.
Finally, my wife and I traveled at the end of July to Manila, Philippines to resume work which my former partner, Dr. Call, has started. We visited several hospitals, lectured to medical students and residents, and held a vision screening in a local LDS church. The people were great and the food was fabulous. We set up a few new projects that we’ll hope to fund, which will provide portable equipment for outreach projects.
