NAMOBUDDHA EYE CAMP HELD SUCCESSFULLY!

Pax Earth, with a technical support of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO) and cooperation from Namobuddha Municipality Ward No. 5 office, conducted one day’s “Namobuddha Eye Camp 2018” successfully at Kanpur Higher Secondary School, Kanpur on April 18, 2018. Including 3-year’s Sushma Lama to 100 year’s Nangshan Dolbu Tamang, 122 local people from Timal region including Kanpur, Kot Timal, Narayansthan, Sasyunkharka, Saatmul, Laskot, Patla, Chuwane, Thumka, Bansghari and Chhatrapati could screen their eyes at this camp for free.

A team of TIO led by eye technician Saroj Devkota conducted the screening for the community people. Fifty four percent of the beneficiaries were male while 46 percent were female. Those having nominal eye problems were provided medicine for free, those having severe problems were referred to the nearby eye hospital(s) and those diagnosed with cataract were taken to Kathmandu for surgery. Out of 122 screened, 13 persons (10.65 percent) were diagnosed with cataract.

The list of the cataract patients is provided in Table 1. It shows that 69 percent of cataract patients are male while 31 percent are female. The cataract patients are aged between 47 and 100. The average age of the cataract patients is 71.5 years. Pax Earth members and well-wishers, teachers of the Kanpur Higher Secondary School and community people thoroughly involved in the camp day – from registration to queue management, vision test to eye screening and counselling. In the evening, Pax Earth team and a representative from Namobuddha Municipality, Ward No. 5 Office Januka Poudel brought the cataract patients at Pullahary Gompa, Kathmandu for the surgery. However, a cataract patient (Nangshan Dolbu Tamang) could not go to Kathmandu due to an unavoidable family circumstance.

On April 19, 2018, an eye surgeon team of TIO led by renowned senior ophthalmologist Dr. Sanduk Ruit performed surgery on cataract of all 12 patients at Pullahary Gompa for free. From 47 year’s Chandra Bahadur Tamang to 87 year’s Nilanand Poudel have been quite fortunate to undergo surgery from his team and get their vision back. Buddhist monks, scouts, the ward representative and Pax Earth members rendered service to the cataract patients from pre-surgery check-ups to post-surgery care. Surgery of all cataract patients was successful.

On April 20, 2018, an eye technician team performed follow check-up on the eye(s) of all 12 cataract patients. They gave medicines to the cataract patients for the next one month and provided important counselling to take a good care of their eyes. After the counselling, the Pax Earth team took them back to their village and handed over to their respective family members from Khardarpati through Kot Timal. The Pax Earth team handed each cataract patient with a walking stick and a water bottle arranged by Fuji Hotel.

It is believed to reduce dependency on family member(s) even for a personal activity after getting their vision back. They can even resume or carry on their livelihood options (farming, agriculture and others). Hence, these camps are instrumental in socio-economic transformation of the economically backward communities.

The excellent coordination and cooperation between and among eye camp organising team, promotional team, fundraising team (including donors), service team, food and beverage team, and resource management team have led this program to a great success. It was possible because of the outstanding support and contribution from the TIO for the screening and surgery, excellent facilitation from the chairman of Ward No. 5 Office of Namobuddha Municipality, praiseworthy co-operation from the Kanpur Higher Secondary School, strong support from the community people, and exceptional service from the monks and scouts at Pullahary Gompa. The eye camp was coordinated excellently by secretary Manohar Sapkota.

Reported by PEN Secretariat!!!

Acknowledgement!

Pax Earth is grateful to all the helping hands to make the eye camp a successful event. It is a team effort that has helped to realise this huge event. We would like to heartily thank co-organiser TIO for their invaluable support and cooperation in organising this event successfully. Without their help, it was not possible. We are grateful to respected senior ophthalmologist Dr. Sanduk Ruit and his (eye surgeons) team from the TIO for performing surgery on the cataract of economically backward people for free and helping to bring their vision back. We are thankful to Saroj Devkota and his eye technician team for rendering excellent eye screening service at the camp day. We express our sincere gratitude to the local organiser Ward 5 Office of Namobuddha Municipality particularly the chairman Buddha Sing Lama and the staff for the support and co-operation to conduct the eye camp. We would appreciate them for serving delicious food at the camp day. We would like to thank principal Sudarshan Prasad Badal and the teachers of the Kanpur Higher Secondary School for their service and cooperation. We must thank well-wisher Bidur Giri not only for connecting Pax Earth with the TIO but also for his great service in conducting the camp. We must thank the management of Pullahary Gompa for providing excellent facility and infrastructure for the surgery and offering food, accommodation and hospitality to the cataract patients from March 12 to March 14. The Buddhist monks deserve a special thanks for the great humanitarian service. We are grateful to the donors (Pax Earth team: Sujan Koirala, Binod P. Mainali, Kamala Basnet, Jamuna Siwakoti, Debraj Ghimire, Sital Mainali, Kapil Deuja, Laxman P. Neupane, Guna Raj Pyakurel, Peter Badal, Bhagabati Pandey, Badri Sigdel, Prabin Giri, Pramila Amatya, Les and Jane Skidmore; well-wishers: Ramesh K.C., Kalpana Rayamajhi, Sapana Thapa, Texas Montessori, Tulasa Ghimire, Ramita Shrestha, Anupa Nepal and Binita Thapa) for raising adequate fund to conduct the camp successfully.

Indeed, an excellent team work and coordination between and among the committees formed to conduct the eye camp have collectively contributed to its success. Hats-off to eye camp coordinator Manohar Sapkota, joint coordinator Sital Mainali, members: Guna Raj Pyakurel, Debraj Ghimire and Laxman Prasad Neupane for their hard work, commitment, time and dedication to make this event a huge success. We would thank promotional campaign committee coordinator Sital Mainali and members (Sujan Koirala, Manohar Sapkota, Kumar Mainali and Kamal Bomjan) for their praiseworthy promotional campaign; volunteers mobilisation committee coordinator Guna Raj Pyakurel and members (Rajani Poudyal and Dev Raj Karki) for arranging and mobilising the volunteers effectively; food and beverage committee coordinator Sital Mainali and members (Kumar Mainali and Harindra Shrestha) for serving delicious meals at the camp; and resource management committee coordinator Sujan Koirala and members (Bal Gopal Shrestha and Sital Mainali) for arranging all necessary resources. We are also thankful to the journalists: Kapil Koirala and Nawaraj Mainali for spreading our news through print and online media. We would thank Fuji Hotel for arranging walking sticks and water bottles for the cataract patients.

Besides, we are thankful to all the volunteers (including Pax Earth members) for rendering exceptional service in the camp day, surgery day and seeing-off day. (Camp Day: president Sujan Koirala, vice president Guna Raj Pyakurel, secretary and camp coordinator Manohar Sapkota, treasurer Bal Gopal Shrestha, board members: Jamuna Siwakoti, Laxman Prasad Neupane and Bhagabati Pandey, members: Rajani Poudyal, Debraj Ghimire, Dev Raj Karki, Rounik Aryal, hon. members: Nilambar Badal, Kapil Koirala, well-wishers: Kumar Mainali, Bidur Giri, Radha Krishna Sapkota and Harindra Shrestha. Surgery Day: president Sujan Koirala, secretary and camp coordinator Manohar Sapkota, Ward representative Januka Poudel, the scouts and the monks. Seeing-off Day: Pax Earth team – president Sujan Koirala, honorary member Kapil Koirala, well-wisher Hari Gopal Kachyapati and ward representative Januka Poudel deserve a great appreciation for offering needed service to the patients during their journey back to home and dropping them at their home stations.

Last but not the least, we would like to thank the driver’s team: Sudip Tamang and Rajan Shrestha for offering a smooth ride for the cataract patients and Pax Earth members on the camp day as well as seeing-off day.