Vale For Africa Eyecare Trip 2018
VALE FOR AFRICA EYECARE TRIP 2018
It was through my work that I first heard of local charity Vale for Africa and of their annual trip to Uganda. Vale for Africa works with a local African charity/NGO called ACET, to improve healthcare and education in the Tororo district of eastern Uganda.
They say it is good to push ourselves out of our comfort zone, and so it was that I signed up to be part of the 2018 team. The trip takes place at the end of August. By February our team members had all been confirmed and 6 months of planning began. Our team consisted of 5 working optometrists, alongside local retired optometrist Ted Arbuthnot and his wife, retired GP Dr Hilary Bugler. A week before the trip we gathered at Ted and Hilary’s home to distribute the kit/equipment, paperwork, and gifts/t-shirts to distribute in Tororo. I did return home that day with a full suitcase and wondered where I was putting my ‘personal’ gear – packing lightly is not one of my strengths!
We gathered at Cardiff airport on Friday 24th August, brimming with excitement and also a few nerves. The journey went smoothly; two flights and a few films later, we touched down in Entebbe airport. It would not be possible to reach Tororo that same day and so we spent one night in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. An early start the next morning allowed us to break our journey at Jinja ‘the source of the Nile’, to take in some amazing African wildlife. By late afternoon on Sunday 26th August we reached Tororo town and had our first glimpse of the distinctive Tororo Rock.
Our accommodation for the week was at the Benedictine Nunnery Although basic, it was comfortable and a welcome peaceful haven at the end of each day. An impressive thunderstorm and the resulting power cut on that first night did make me wonder what the next few days would bring!
The work started in earnest the next morning. The project relies on working with a team of local volunteers who are invaluable; some carrying out some ‘pre-screening’ checking of vision and some helping us with translation and giving patient instructions. These volunteers are known as the Visual Acuity Testers (VATs).
Most have been involved with the project for several years. They now know well what needs to be done to help the clinics run smoothly. The first morning was run as a refresher training session for the VATs, before our first clinics in the afternoon.
In our clinics we had anyone and everyone from babes in arms to a lady whose age on her paperwork simply read ‘80+’. The vast majority of these patients would never have seen a doctor, dentist or optometrist before in their lives.
It is difficult to explain just how different the clinics are from those at home, where we are all very lucky to have the latest technology to help us in our work.
At home I might see an average of 10-12 patients a day; we averaged 40 a day in Tororo.
Each morning the team of VATs had often been there an hour or two ahead of us, setting up what they could in advance – each day my buddy Joseph would already have hung some makeshift curtains in whatever room we were to be based in, as too much light makes it difficult to examine inside the eyes.
The other thing I initially found somewhat disconcerting but soon got used to was ‘performing’ in front of an audience. At one of the schools we were based at, Joseph ushered me into ‘our’ room to be greeted by at least 20 pairs of eyes watching my every move as I unpacked for the day. There were school benches that had all been pushed to the side of the room, so of course they would sit there to wait their turn.
As expected, we saw a wide range of eye conditions. For many this meant their first pair of glasses – and for several hundred people a simple pair of reading glasses would be life changing. We saw plenty of other ‘interesting’ things but, unexpectedly, it was these people whose lives could be changed by a £3 pair of reading glasses that touched me most of all. We helped a seamstress and a local government worker who had given up work because of their ‘poor vision’ and would now be able to carry on working for perhaps another 10 years.
In Tororo town is the Benedictine Eye Hospital, to which we could refer patients who needed treatment including cataract surgery (and Vale for Africa covers the cost of the surgery for these patients) and eyedrops for the treatment of Glaucoma.
In total between our team of 5 we saw just over 700 patients, almost 100 of whom needed cataract surgery. This may seem a drop in the ocean compared to Uganda’s population of 42 million, but you couldn’t help but feel we really were making a difference to those people we saw.
On the final night we were treated to a wonderful evening with those we had worked with during the week, with a very fine meal and some amazing African dancing – a memorable way to round off the trip. We set off early the next morning to begin our long journey home from Tororo to Entebbe airport and on to Wales. I was coming home tired, but with wonderful memories, new friendships, and a little piece of Tororo and its wonderful people in my heart.
The 2020 trip has, like so many other events, sadly been cancelled, but I very much hope to be on that plane to Entebbe again in 2021. If anyone would like to know more about Vale for Africa and the work they do take a look at www.valeforafrica.org.uk where you can find a donation link and more information on how to get involved.
Dawn Saville