"Doc" Ivan pretending to use vision exam equipment
Lilly Alba teaching children
 
Eye ailments abound throughout the world.  But in distant villages outside of the Kenyan town of Machakos, medical care is difficult to access.  Because of the great distances and costs villagers must endure to get quality health care, most of them are never able to get the help they need.  Small infections turn to chronic eye problems, and cataracts turn to blindness.  Problems that are easily cured through eye drops or a one-hour surgery go untreated.
 
In December, the Rotary Club of Nairobi and the Rotary Club of Machakos along with support from Rotary Clubs in the United States teamed up to offer a free “Eye Camp” for the outlying villages, and the Alba Family was there to help.
 
Ivan, Elena, Isabel and Lily from the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club worked supporting doctors from the Machakos Level 5 District Hospital as they diagnosed eye ailments and performed cataract surgeries.  While not doctors themselves, their work supported the medical team in getting the villagers efficiently through long lines to better ocular health.  Even Isabel and Lily (Rotar-Kidz in the LMSR club) put their skills to work.  The girls cared for and taught the African children who came from the hills with their parents and grandparents.  Ivan and Elena worked with the doctors by applying drops to patients and making the system work more efficiently.
 
The eye camp was part of a district project in Nairobi headed by Sudesh Walia (who also coordinated the teacher peace training) in partnership between the Nairobi and Machakos Rotary Clubs.  Because of their great work, over 1000 patients were able to come to receive crucial care, and 200 cataract surgeries were performed to return people’s sight to them.  Some of the maladies diagnosed and treated were: allergic and bacterial conjunctivitis, diabetic retinopathies, maculopathies, traumatic corneal perforation, endophthalmitis, corneal ulcers, vitamin A deficiencies, refractive errors, retinal detachment, and Bell’s Palsy, and of course, cataracts.