Blessings for new clinic
All posts by gwillg
Major boost for Eye Clinic, Cambodia
The Rose Charities Eye Clinic in Phnom Penh has just received a major boost, with the arrival of high-tech equipment donated from the New Zealand optom community and a visit from Rose Trustee optometrist Mike Webber with technician Neville Wood.
Three instruments were air-freighted up early this year with the help of one of the Rose team’s guardian angels, Agility Logistics of Lower Hutt. Other benefactors, the PIF Foundation, Peter and Sylvia Aitchison, Sidonia and Adam Pertschy (of Germany ), Mrs Angela Aitken and Mrs Sue Forrest, met the cost of freight and air fares for Mike and Neville.
The three instruments are a Millenium Phaco machine used in cataract surgery, donated by Christchurch’s St Georges Hospital; a Humphrey Field Analyser used for early detection of conditions like glaucoma which cause blindness, donated by the Eye Department, Whanganui Hospital, and an autoclave donated by Alpha Technical Services, of Palmerston North.
As well, a chance encounter with a millionaire “refugee” from New York during the recent visit to Phnom Penh by Rose General Secretary Dr Will Grut has led to a $US17,000 YAG laser being given to the clinic.
The high-level equipment is in the good hands of the medical director Dr Hang Vra, who has just completed his postgraduate ophthalmology exams with top honours, and his wife Nathalie, who is topping her class as she completes her medical degree, having trained as a nurse in the Ukraine.
“Vra and Natalie have both done so well with their studies, while they work so hard for the hundreds of patients who arrive at the clinic every week,” said Mike Webber. “It is really rewarding for them and all the Rose supporters to see the first-class equipment in place.” With these latest instruments the clinic has everything it needs for the foreseeable future.
But changes are afoot. During Mike’s visit an early morning blessing ceremony was held before work begins on a new building that will become both home for Vra and Nathalie and their three sons and a new clinic where paying patients will be treated.
“In Cambodia, you don’t talk about private and public,” says Mike. “It is rich and poor. Vra will earn more money to educate his sons by establishing this new clinic. But he and Nathalie are totally committed to helping the poor as well. I feel confident the balance between their new clinic and the existing one will work out well.
“Things are rapidly changing in Cambodia, and already the city boundary has been extended past the section owned by Nathalie, which is about 15kms north of the present clinic along the main road to Siem Riep.
“So in all I believe that Rose NZ can be proud of what has been achieved over the past six years at the clinic. It is now running splendidly, with
good outcomes for the patients, and I believe that Vra and his team are running the show very well with less input from us as time goes on. They
will still need the occasional input and advice over time, but it wiil get less as their expertise increases. They are all so grateful for all the support from Rose Charities, both from Canada and New Zealand.”
Japan tsunami relief update: 27th March 2011
(2011-03-27) 
Iwate Prefecture (Kamaishi City and the town of Ohtsuchicho):
1) Ohtsuchicho
The medical infrastructure in the town of Ohtsuchicho was totally devastated due to the torrential tsunami. The clinics and hospitals in the coastal area were all washed away and their doctors and nurses were displaced as well. Hence, they are engaged in relief activities while they themselves are evacuated at the evacuation shelters.
The medical activities in Ohtsuchicho were headed by the staff of the local Ohtsuchi Hospital which also helped AMDA in procuring medical supplies. However, as the hospital had to undergo the suspension of their services until Apr. 15th (for the first time since the tsunami hit; allowing its employees to take some time off to take care of their personal matters), the evacuation shelters under its direction have been facing difficulties in their daily operations.
At Ohtsuchicho High School, due to the lack of coordination, things have been rather confounding as many relief organizations come and go in a short period of time. As of Mar. 24th, teams from AMDA as well as Osaka and Aomori’s medical associations have been active (all comprising a number of staff.) It is also reported that having a pharmacist in the team is very important in providing coherent services as most of the medicines are generic ones.
Majority of patients at Ohtsuchi High School are those with chronic diseases. Therefore, they all requested the medicines they regularly take.
One of AMDA doctors accompanied a local volunteer to deliver mobile clinic services to a remote community in mountainous area where assistance hadn’t reached. In the community where there were about fifty households (most of them elderly) the patients with chronic diseases had been left untreated. Among the patients were diabetes patients with abnormally high blood sugar level or those with excessive high blood pressure. In response to this, the team delivered mobile clinic services on a regular basis.
Contrary to Kamaishi city, the disaster headquarters in Ohtsuchicho has been very much isolated as lines of communication have not yet recovered. The road access to the headquarters is not easy either where the roads are covered by debris.
AMDA team members assume that it is going to take a lot of time to have the medical infrastructure recovered, thus the assistance from external relief organizations is a must. It is also foreseeable that services such as nursing for the elderly would be resumed in the course of recovery.
2) Kamaishi City
Medical volunteers are regularly allocated at the disaster headquarters in Kamaishi City. People are counting on AMDA as its doctors themselves are always present at the daily meeting. Large amount of medicine donated from all around the country has exceeded the capacity of the initial storage so that the stock management has been handful.
Miyagi Pref. (the town of Minamisanriku-cho):
1) Minamisanriku-cho
AMDA has been visiting several evacuation shelters in Minamisanriku-cho on a regular basis, conducting mobile clinic services and on-site needs assessments.
At one iron factory where about thirty people have been evacuated, AMDA prescribed Tamiflu to the evacuees as there were several suspected influenza cases.
According to the surveys conducted in collaboration with other medical teams, following facts were found:
1)There are lots of people who cannot come and collect medicines from the evacuation centers .
2)Depressive symptoms have been increasing among the evacuees.
3)Suspected influenza cases (Tamiflu was prescribed for its prevention.)
4)Along with mobile clinic services delivered by doctors, health care workers are also conducting home-visiting on their own. In order to avoid the overlap, the close communication/referral between the two parties is a must.
A pharmacist from AMDA team sorted out the medicines donated from its donor. The stock management of medicines is considered very important when aid supplies are coming in one after the other.
Shizukawa Elementary School:
Here, it is a local doctor who leads the medical relief, and there are about 50 to 80 patients to the temporary clinic daily. The prescription of medicine is for a maximum of seven days per patient; the doctors decided not to prescribe medicines for a long period if a patient can be cured within a few days. There are also several teams of psychiatrists dropping by in the area.
No gas, water or electricity in the shelter except for the nightly operation of a power generator that helps the evacuees to recharge their mobile phones. LED lights have been provided so the place is not totally darkened out. There are futons but no heating available. On Mar. 24th, the evacuees were able to take a shower for the first time after the disaster struck (40 people at a time every 30mins.)
Shizukawa Junior High School:
Likewise, it is another local doctor that is in charge of the medical relief in the shelter. AMDA helped to deliver mobile clinic services to the vicinity and saw many patients with hey fever and high blood pressure. There were several severe cases such as inguinal hernia and hydrocephalia as well.
Japan tsunami team update: 7th AMDA team now underway..
(2011-03-18) 
1) AMDA team in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture:
AMDA team has been delivering mobile clinic services and relief goods to the nursing homes and schools (evacuation shelters) in Aoba and Miyagino Wards. The common cold has become prevalent among the evacuees, however, the prevention is not easy in the crowded evacuation shelters while the dust from the collapsed buildings covering the entire area.
2)Kamaishi City and the Town of Ohzuchicho, Iwate Prefecture:
Likewise, mobile clinic services have been the main activities of the AMDA team in Iwate Prefecure. The cold weather (snowing) is affecting the evacuees’ health condition and medicine is lacking in the area.
On Mar. 17th, AMDA’s sixth team left for Miyagi/Iwate with medicine and food supplies.
On Mar. 18th, followed by Mar. 19th, AMDA will be sending its seventh team (1 coordinator) and eighth team (1 doctor, 2 nurses, 4 coordinators) respectively to the aforementioned Kamaishi City and the town of Ohzuchicho in Iwate Prefecture.
Helping Japan…
Helping Christchurch
Rose Charities New Zealand partly runs out of Christchurch. Within the 200 casualties, everyone knows someone who has been killed or injured though all Rose personnel fortunately escaped. The main historic center of the city is devastated. Johnny Veal (Rose NZ Optometrist) says it ‘is like a war zone, but perhaps worse as the shocks continue’.
A lot of aid and resources have been mobilized including international rescue teams. However there are needs which are not met. One such, has been identified by John himself. Many people have lost everything including their glasses. Without them they cannot function, drive, work etc. Most of the optometry clinics have been destroyed. John has stared a small emergency one in a suburb and is being overwhelmed with requests. As there has been so much loss many people now are without financial resources. Rose Charities New Zealand with support from Canada is assisting John in this initiative.
If you would like to donate, please go to the donate section of this website. There is a field for a message ie ‘for Christchurch relief’ after the donation is made. <DONATE NOW>
Paediatric Cataract Initiative Awards
Innovative Programs in Nepal, India and Nigeria Receive Funding
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Pediatric Cataract Initiative has announced its inaugural small research grant recipients for treating and preventing vision loss in children.
The Initiative, a partnership of the Bausch + Lomb Early Vision Institute and Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), will provide two research grants of US$50,000 each to:
Lumbini Eye Institute to study the cost and clinical effectiveness of a comprehensive pediatric cataract surgery follow-up system in western Nepal and adjacent northern Indian states. The outcomes are expected to have a wide-ranging effect on follow-up regimens in developing nations worldwide.
Calabar Teaching Hospital to investigate the burden and causes of severe visual impairment and blindness among children in the Cross River State of Nigeria. This is believed to be the first large-scale study of the root causes of childhood blindness in Africa.
Launched in June 2010, the Pediatric Cataract Initiative is the first dedicated global effort aimed at preventing and treating cataract – a clouding of the eye’s natural lens – in children so as to reduce childhood blindness. Causes of pediatric cataract can include intrauterine infections such as pregnancy rubella, metabolic disorders and genetically transmitted syndromes.
“While the knowledge and techniques for diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cataract are well known, there is a lack in the understanding of factors that determine success of interventions and factors that will enhance accessing services,” said Dr. Gullapalli Rao, chairman of the Pediatric Cataract Initiative Global Advisory Council and founder of the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India.
The inaugural small research grant application was open to clinicians and researchers around the world. Members of the Pediatric Cataract Initiative Global Advisory Council, which is composed of eye health experts from around the world, met in December 2010 to review 16 small research grant applications from countries including India, Cameroon, Nigeria, Nepal, Guatemala, Kenya, the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
“In children, despite the best cataract surgery, long term and more frequent follow up is required because of changing refractive error due to their constantly growing eyes and the special concern of amblyopia, which is exclusive to children,” notes Dr. Salma K.C. Rai, principal investigator, academic director and ophthalmic assistant training in-charge and consultant pediatric ophthalmologist at Lumbini Eye Institute, Nepal.
“It is very important for the pediatric ophthalmologist and the team to repeatedly stress to parents the importance of follow up visits, at least in the initial few years following pediatric cataract surgery. The seed needs to be sown at the right time, and any delay will result in poor results,” said Dr. Rai.
“Receiving the grant will engage people in our region to take more action towards eliminating childhood blindness,” said Dr. Roseline Duke of the Calabar Teaching Hospital in Nigeria. “At the end of our research, I hope to have restored good vision to children who are affected by cataract, and integrated those who have lost their vision into their schools and communities.”
An estimated 1.4 million children are blind worldwide, 1 million of whom live in Asia and 300,000 in Africa. The prevalence of pediatric cataract in developing countries can be 10 times more common than in developed nations.
Childhood blindness affects not only children, but their families and communities for life. One study places the global economic loss over 10 years of childhood cataract at between US$1 billion to US$6 billion.
The Initiative also intends to announce a major prevention and treatment grant for a Chinese institution in the coming months.
“Lions have long been dedicated to saving and restoring sight, so this partnership is a natural for us. Dedicated research that will help prevent blindness is a new area of great interest for our Foundation, and one that will pay great dividends for years to come,” said Wing Kun Tam, a member of the Global Advisory Council and vice president, Lions Clubs International.
The Pediatric Cataract Initiative (www.PediatricCataract.org) utilizes the resources of both Bausch + Lomb’s Early Vision Institute and LCIF to identify, fund and promote innovative methods of overcoming this challenge for the long-term benefit of children, their families and their communities
Rose Charities helping flood victims S.E. Sri Lanka
Rose Charities Sri Lankas workers use motorcycles to take food out to children and families stranded by the floods . See http://rosesrilanka.info
Dr David Sabiston teaches at Rose Cambodia Sight Center
Dr David Sabiston (NZ Order of Merit) is one of the stars in the history of the Rose Charities Sight Center. Over the past 7 years David has generously donated his teaching experience, his extensive international experience and personal resources to bringing the Sight Center to one of the foremost blindness prevention and sight restoration establishments in Cambodia. He has elicited donations in materials and funds. The center has treated some 90,000 patients since 2002 and much of this incredible number was able to be achieved through Davids work.
A message from Trish Gribben, chair, Rose Charities NZ
Greetings for New Year 2011 Everyone!
It is going to be a most exciting year with great projects on the Rose NZ calendar.
I have hardly come back to earth since paragliding in late November with the heavenly Himalayas stretching their pure white peaks against the blue blue sky. To be more exact, my flight took off from Senekot, a village above Pokhara, and it was the Annapurna range with the sacred mountain, Machupachare, backgrounding my view……and what made me feel even more airborne that day was quite astonishing news I had just received about Rose NZ’s latest project.
The backstory goes like this: In 2008 Rose NZ brought ophthalmologist Dr Basant Sharma, a director of the Lumbini Eye Institute, to New Zealand for three weeks professional development. He stayed with us in our home and charmed everyone who met him.
Naturally, when I went to Nepal recently in a group of 15 people with Footprints, I asked if a visit to Lumbini could be on the itinerary to visit Basant. John McKinnon who, with his wife Diane, leads Footprints tours, is a retired ophthalmologist so he too was keen to visit the Institute. (The McKinnons were the first doctor and teacher in Sir Ed Hillary’s first Sherpa hospital in the Kumbu and this year celebrate the 50th anniversary of that pivotal time in their lives.)
Lumbini is in the southern Terai, or the plains area of Nepal near the border with India, and it is also a World Heritage site as the birthplace of Buddha. There was a double reason for going there.
Our time at the Lumbini Eye Institute(LEI), hosted by Basant, made a big impact on us all as we took in the extraordinary “production line” of the outpatient clinics overflowing with people patiently waiting to be registered, assessed for surgery or glasses, then being treated. The flow embraces 800 patients a day, with a dozen ophthalmologists doing 200 cataract operations every day, in three operating theatres, each with four operating tables. In the area where glasses are dispensed, people were thronging as deeply as those on an Indian railway station about to catch a train. Not surprising when you learn that the catchment population for the LEI is 20 million poor people, many of them coming from India. The Nepali government contributes not a rupee to the work.
Still reeling from the intensity of visiting the LEI, we set off on the dusty pot-holed road to Kapilavastu where, about an hour’s bus ride away, a rural outpost eye clinic operates from an unfinished two-storey building, able to give only rudimentary diagnosis and treatment of basic eye problems.
The road to Kapilavastu winds back more than 2500 years. It was there that Prince Siddhartha lived a royal existence in palaces that are currently being revealed by archeologists. It was from Kapilavastu that he set off, aged 29, in search of the meaning of life, suffering and enlightenment. But it was not the Buddha’s story that captivated us most that day.
We were welcomed at the local eye clinic with kata, the white scarves of greetings, and leis of marigolds by the village District Health Committee, and were shown around the unfinished building. We were told how funding sources had dried up and of plans that money could make come true. We heard how the clinic, which would draw on a similar catchment of 20 million poor people, could offer cataract surgery, how the LEI as the parent body could send more eye surgeons if equipment was permanently there, how the distressing rate of eye problems in young and old could be reduced. We heard how the clinic could become self-sustaining within a short time of its establishment.
The amounts needed for the project are estimated at $US10,000 for the completion of the building and $US20,000 for the equipment needed, including a generator to cope with the major power outages that are standard — about 18 hours a day WITHOUT power.
As Basant translated, we all listened carefully and asked questions. As chairperson of Rose NZ I spoke briefly, saying I would take their story in my heart and mind back to our trustees in NZ, but it was impossible for me to give any promises on the spot. I left with the faces of the district committee, so trusting and hopeful, carved on my mind. Every member of our group was moved and impressed.
Now, Fast Forward to nearly a week later when we were walking on a ridge at Senekot where the morning sun was burning off the mists over Pokhara. My friend Basant tells me that a glimpse of the Himalayas is enough to purify the soul; that day, with the full glory of the mighty Annapurna peaks rising before us, our souls must have been squeaky clean.
As I walked along the mountain tracks, starting to contemplate paragliding, my fellow travellers fell quietly into step beside me. By the time I took to the skies the clinic at Kapilavastu had been promised $NZ10,000 by my generous companions.
The Rose NZ Nepal project for 2011 was taking off! Is it any wonder I was nearly over the moon?
Within a week of my homecoming, Rose NZ trustees formally and unanimously approved the Nepal rural eye clinic project. We will help make it happen, alongside our on-going commitment to the Rose Eye Clinic In Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There are exciting developments in Cambodia too —- but that’s another story: See News from Phnom Penh (pip/will: can it be a link to click on?)
Watch this space for fundraising news as 2011 ticks along.
TO DONATE:
Anyone wishing to donate to the Kapilavastu Rural Eye Clinic should send a cheque made out to Rose Charities New Zealand
c/- Rose Treasurer Jane Midgley
Midgleys and Partners
P.O. Box 3714
Christchurch, 8015
Dr Basant Sharma (right) pictured with Raju Aryal, a member of the Kapilavastu clinic management committee. In the background is the archeological site with remains of the palace where the Buddha grew up.
(Picture of man speaking)..Rajesh Gyewali, the assistant secretary of the village health committee, speaks to the Footprints group at the Kapilavastu primary eye care centre
Poonga Tamil Community Education Group pupils dance for Divali
These are Tamil children who have been supported by Poonga, the Tamil Community Education Group. Rose Charities NZ has given Poonga an annual donation for several years.
In the lower photo they are dancing outside the Auckland Town Hall, during the Diwali celebrations in October. 
Inspiration in Cambodia !
When Trish Gribben and Jane Midgley (Rose Charities NZ chairperson and treasurer) were in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the June meeting of Rose people from around the world, they visited Rose Australia’s rehabilitation project, run by physiotherapist Joanna (will, surname please). She was busy supervising the construction of a space attached to a hospital for post-operative physio—a concept almost entirely unheard of in Cambodia. The big room-to-be had no roof, lots of rubble and bamboo. NOW LOOK AT IT ON JOANNA’S BLOG:
We also met Chan Chea, a young woman who had not moved from her wooden cot since an illness struck her five years before. Thanks to Joanna’s physio programme over the last four months, Chan Chea could WALK to receive a certificate at the opening of the brightly-painted centre.
Trish Gribben says: “This is one of the best and most moving things I have EVER seen!”
