Medical camps with teams from all over the U.S., led by Lynn Renne of Aldersgate UMC, were held in the Amani Learning Centre once or twice a year, beginning in 2010. During these camps, patients with medical needs as well as a need for eyeglasses were seen, tested, and treated. Along with medicines, prescription glasses and reading glasses were given at no charge.
But unfortunately, there was no way to help many of them see, by giving them glasses. It was heartbreaking to tell them that they had cataracts, which meant that glasses from the U.S. would NOT help them. The looks of despair in their faces were difficult to handle. They had waited hours to be seen, only to be told that there was no way to help them see. They simply had to turn around and walk miles back to their homes.
In 2014, Lynn called Dr. Michel Gelinas of Wisconsin, who she found through a Google search. He had experience doing cataract surgery in 3rd world countries. She asked if he would be interested in helping bring cataract surgery to our corner of Kenya. He was! And so began the planning and implementing process.
Dr. Gelinas has now traveled to Kenya 5 times to perform cataract surgery. The first couple years he did surgery in a small room in a government hospital about 45 minutes from Amani. Through donations to the cataract surgery program from fundraisers in Evansville, eye equipment was purchased and taken to Kenya, and Dr. Gelinas taught the young Ophthalmologists how to use it, and how to do new techniques in cataract surgery.
One of them, Dr, Frank Okada, a recent graduate of the University of Nairobi, has written to express his appreciation. “….the impact of all this is huge that I can’t exhaust in this letter. Most of all is we now offer new technology services to our patients, restoring back vision; hence they go back to the community to engage in nation building rather than becoming dependents… Dr. Gelinas has taken time to train the eye department staff on use of the new equipment, and is teaching us on (use of) the new donated instruments including their routine maintenance.”
Cataract surgery has now been moved to an operating room in the Amani Health Centre, and eye testing and treating equipment is now in the large eye care area in the Centre. Dr. Frank comes to Amani every Wednesday to see patients with eye problems and to do cataract surgery.
