The Gift of Khmer Sight
Metro Medical Centre - Located within the hub of Phnom Penh, the Metro Medical Centre has served as the home of the Khmer Sight Foundation team for several months. Once used for cosmetic surgery, the company went bust, which led to the team having the opportunity to utilise the space temporarily. Phnom Penh, 8th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Hout Cheng - 23-year-old Hout Cheng, a volunteer and the co-ordinating team leader of the Khmer Sight Foundation, eagerly listens and writes notes from the workshop session provided by representatives of 4Sight. This session enhances Cambodian students’ and nurses’ knowledge and skills for the surgical procedure and gives them a more in-depth look at the human eye. Phnom Penh, 8th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Empty Spaces - Many pieces of equipment lay dormant during the 8th of January, such as the slit lamp, as it was the beginning of what was to be a busy week full of patients having tests and surgeries. Other businesses and companies often donate these pieces of equipment. Phnom Penh, 8th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Victor And The Patients - Victor Norris, a Canadian who frequently visits Cambodia, is one of the coordinators for the Khmer Sight Foundation. He assists by running the main schedule during the first day of the January mission. The medical centre’s doors are open early and ready for the overwhelming number of people who have travelled far and wide to receive help. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Vision Vices - Due to the overwhelming amount of people inside, a separate waiting and testing area is set up in the back room, where patients get screened individually, one after the other, to follow up with the conditions of their eyes and if they’ve progressively worsened since their last visit in October of 2017. The process for screening involves the ‘Tumbling E’ chart. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Waiting Room Rush - As the morning progresses, patients that have been re-tested with the “Tumbling E” vision chart and their questions answered are soon processed through the centre for further testing by ophthalmologists from the UK. It’s the beginning of a very long day ahead for the Khmer Sight Foundation team. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Flying Files - Ready for further tests, patients’ files fly throughout the medical centre as they progress through the centre like a maze. A pair of hands goes a long way during these lengthy hours. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Close Encounters - Many of the patients have travelled from far remote villages, and some have never even been inside a van. The amount of trust the people have towards the team, particularly in these international strangers, such as UK ophthalmologist Philippa Shaw, is astounding. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Dr Mrinal Rana - UK Doctor, Mrinal Rana, tests another patient on the slit lamp. His 14 years of optometry experience genuinely benefits the team and the people. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Anxious Waits - Many patients sit and wait nervously to be moved upstairs and stay in another section just meters outside the operating theatre. The patients are often very nervous and afraid of what soon awaits them. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Surgical Layouts - Inside the operating theatre, volunteer nurses and student nurses assist with preparing for each patient’s surgery. Each piece of equipment is thoroughly sterilised or newly opened from its packaging. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Intraocular Lens - During the surgery, areas of the patient’s face are cleaned and prepared, incisions are made into the cornea, as liquid collects in a bag, noises and sounds from the medical equipment echo throughout the theatre, and the masks muffle the medical staff’s voices. Dr Rana inserts an intraocular lens (IOL) into a patient’s eye, thus removing the cataract. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Patched Up - Each patient, and ultimately each eye, has developed various degrees of cataracts differently. The grades of the cataract will affect its thickness and how difficult it will be to remove from the patient’s eye. However, no more than 20 minutes later, the surgery is completed, the patient’s eye is stitched up and patched, and the patient is ready to go. Phnom Penh, 9th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Dyna Poch - Dyna Poch, a 23-year-old nurse and volunteer, assists by preparing and sterilising equipment during the operations. Each nurse takes a turn helping the Doctor by cleaning and preparing the theatre. It is a long day on their feet without a minute to spare. Phnom Penh, 10th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Thoughts Of Peace - An elderly patient attempts to quell her fears by gently breathing in and out, trying her best to relax as the team scurries around the theatre, preparing everything for the next 20 minutes. For many people who go through with the surgery, not only is their own life changed but that of their families as well. Phnom Penh, 10th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Flowing Steady - As the surgery goes on, a low-saline water solution is injected into the eye to dissolve the cataract. Then a suction piece is used as a vacuum to remove the cataract once and for all to make room for the new IOL. Phnom Penh, 10th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Team Effort - Throughout operations, the moments between student Monin Vinh, nurse Dayna Poch and Dr Mrinal Rana rarely run frantically as most times they are a smooth and steady working team. Phnom Penh, 10th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Shaking Hands - While most patients go through the surgery without any issues, those who arrive from very rural Cambodian areas are understandably afraid of what they see before them. One elderly female patient is shaking, not only underneath the face cloth with her jaw, but her entire body trembles. Additionally, the air con doesn’t help with certain patients. So, to calm her down and give her some more warmth after the air conditioner is close to room temperature, Dayna puts the preparation and sterilisation aside to calm the older woman down. Phnom Penh, 10th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Steady Exit - After the 20 minutes are over, Victor and Hout gently escort the patients down the stairs to the ground floor, where they wait to recover from their surgery until their family members arrive back to collect them. Phnom Penh, 10th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
In-Field Province Missions - As the surgeries are continued back in the Metro Medical Centre in Phnom Penh, out in the Samraong district of the Takéo province, three villages are visited – Lumchang, Boeing Tranh Khang Tboung and Khvav. These locations have a local open-aired Buddhist meditation centre where visitors from all over the district travel to reach this hub. It is a bustling building where medical teams for dental and pharmaceutical attention provide the health care the villagers require. Takéo Province, 11th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Judy Tan - Judy Tan, a retired volunteer, joins the Khmer Sight Foundation team on the in-field missions as she knows Khmer and can mostly speak to the villagers to guide the vision tests with the “Tumbling E” chart. Takéo Province, 11th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Crowded Spaces - While out in the village of Khvav, in the Samraong district of the Takéo Province, another day is filled with eager patients ready to know the verdict of their eyesight and whether they can be operated on. Unfortunately, a small number of people must be turned away as nothing can be done. A few male villages have had an unfortunate encounter with a cobra, which lead to venom being spat and striking their eye, leaving them blind. Takéo Province, 12th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
Grateful Smiles - At the end of the mission’s last day in the Takéo province, reading glasses were handed out to the villagers aged 65 and over, requiring them, leading to difficult choices over the style of frames for some. While for others, gratitude is shown in all their smiles and never-ending “thank yous”. For the Khmer Sight team, seeing a huge smile is among the most rewarding things. Takéo Province, 12th January 2018 Photo by Alexandra Gonzalez-Mendoza / Alexandra Mendoza Media / ARGUS
To picture oneself as an older individual with limited access to medical care to the point that your eyesight begins to deteriorate at such a rate that you ultimately become blind is incomprehensible, particularly in Australia. However, this is a common and daily struggle for many Cambodian citizens, as it is estimated that approximately 180,000 of those citizens are blind. Additionally, a further 10,000 Cambodians will end up losing their sight (Mivision, 2017). This statistic is purely due to a lack of medical resources and personnel, especially after the Pol Pot regime, as the country only has 32 ophthalmologists (White & Mandal, 2017). Adding to this, many Cambodians only earn up to $2 a day and can simply not afford the cost involved.
To counteract this issue, Khmer Sight Foundation (KSF) aims to support the training of future eye care physicians and ophthalmologists by bringing in international ophthalmologists and surgeons to train and help the current Cambodian student nurses and graduate nurses by increasing their skill set and knowledge. In addition to training Cambodian students and recent graduates, the Khmer Sight Foundation also carries out in-field missions providing eye care for Cambodians located throughout the provinces.
For the January mission, a few members of the KSF packed equipment and staff into a van. They drove 2 hours south of Phnom Penh to reach the Lumchang, Boeing Tranh Khang Tboung and Khvav villages in the Samraong district of the Takéo province for vision tests or visual acuity (VAs).
There is a great hustle and bustle during these in-field missions, with many other medical teams working alongside each other to provide medical attention and healthcare items for people. Aside from low resources and staff numbers, the other issue that Khmer Sight faces is for the local Cambodians to trust the international team to test their eyes and go through with the operation eventually (Sreypich, 2017). That trust has built itself organically throughout the years, particularly once groups of people return home after their cataract surgery. The results of clear eyesight are almost immediately noticeable after a few days, and word begins to spread about the work carried out by the Khmer Sight Foundation.
The Khmer sight Foundation was founded in 2015 by Sean Ngu and the late Dr Kim Frumar, an Ophthalmologist from Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. Dr Frumar’s vision for the non-government organisation (NGO) involved training locals rather than constantly relying on the international support for health care to remain flourishing in Cambodia (Chatswood Private Hospital, 2016).
These days the KSF team are popular with the locals; however, the location of their central hub is constantly changing, as there is no permanent building to house the staff and equipment. During the November to January and February missions, the Khmer team were fortunate enough to utilise the Metro Medical Centre in Phnom Penh. Once a space for cosmetic enhancement procedures, it now harbours elderly and rural Cambodians that are brought in the morning and moved through until the late evening for re-screening and re-testing to note the progression of their condition and finally for cataract surgery.
While the current medical centre is a beautiful building perfect for their needs, unfortunately, it is not permanent. A new cosmetic company will be running up shortly and will use the space at Metro. Therefore, a new future for the Khmer Sight Foundation lies in completing the latest medical centre, appropriately named, The Khmer Sight Institute, located in Preak Leap, Phnom Penh. This new area will provide medical care and house patients with various health conditions. From that, the foundation will provide a space to carry out more surgeries and eye testing.
As you read this, missions and surgeries are still being carried out alongside well-established professionals from locations like the UK, India, Singapore, and Australia. With that, the local team continues to provide the gift of sight again to those who need it most.
References:
Chatswood Private Hospital. (2016, August 23). Dr Kim Frumar’s Legacy Continues In Cambodia [News]. Retrieved 9 January 2018, from https://www.cphospital.com.au/news/cisa-wildlife-alliance-collaborate-improve-health-standards-cambodia/
Mivision. (2017, April 18). Cambodian Prince to Visit Australia for Khmer Sight Fundraisers [News]. Mivision.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2018, from https://www.mivision.com.au/cambodian-prince-to-visit-australia-for-khmer-sight-fundraisers/
White, J. & Mandal, P. (2017, September 19). Cambodian Mission [Blog post]. Association of Optometrists. Retrieved 9 January 2018, from https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/in-practice/practitioner-stories/2017/09/19/cambodian-mission
Sreypich. (2017, November 22). Khmer Sight Foundation Volunteer [Blog post]. Retrieved 9 January 2018, from http://sreypich.ligeracademyblog.org/2017/11/22/khmer-sight-foundation-volunteer/
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