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Matching Grant 54719 was the fourth project between
various clubs in District 3160 in India and District 6060. This
project was sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Bidar, India, in the
northern portion of the state of Karnataka. The international sponsor
was the Rotary Club of Cottleville/Weldon Spring, Missouri. Funding was
supplied by the Rotary Club of Bidar, the Avoidable Blindness Donor
Advised Fund and Rotary Districts 6060-eastern Missouri, and
6710-western Kentucky.
This project funded 1,000 surgeries to remove cataracts
from poor blind people and to place intra-ocular lens implants, giving
the patients good vision again.
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The 30-year old woman to the right developed mature cataracts in both
eyes at her sixth month of pregnancy. Her husband abandoned her, but
thankfully she was taken in and cared for by her brother's family. Her
baby is now five months old and her brother has brought her to an eye
screening camp organized by Rotary.
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Here she is immediately after surgery. The cataract
has been removed from her right eye and a new lens implanted.
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Naturally, the first thing she wants to do is examine
her baby that she has not been able to see for the last five months. |
Pre-surgery tests are being run by the ophthalmology resident,
certifying these patients are ready for surgery.
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Over 200 poor blind people showed up at a rural screening camp,
organized to select patients for surgery, funded by MG 54719. |
Most of these blind patients will have their vision back by nightfall.
Their pink papers certify they have passed their pre-surgery tests and
other surgery preparations.
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Ophthalmologist PDG Dr. Umesh Megur introduces DGSC Dr. Todd Lindley to
two blind women on the morning before their surgeries. They have both
been blind for over 12 years and have been abandoned by their families.
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The following day, Dr. Megur brings DGSC Lindley back to see the women
before their are released. Their surgeries were both successful. Their
level of vision is excellent. It was a struggle to get them to stay
seated for just a moment to take the picture. They were very interested
in walking around the clinic and examining every little thing.
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Project Status: Work Complete, Project Closed |
