NEWS ARCHIVE

March-April 2006: Sight Restoration and Blindness Prevention Project

During March and April, 557 people received free sight restoring cataract operations under our Program, 129 in the South Kalimantan Mobile Eye Clinic, 285 in the North Bali Mobile Eye Clinic, 60 in the South Bali Mobile Eye Clinic, 83 in the Rumah Sakit Indera in Denpasar (including 10 children’s cataract operations).

A total of 7,682 people were screened for eye problems in Bali, and 1,213 pairs of spectacles were issued free of charge to people in the lower socio-economic group.

One Balinese child received a prosthesis eye after an evisceration operation earlier in the year.

April 2006: General Patients

In April, 108 local people came to our Bali office to seek general medical advice and referral, the main problems being related to skin, fever, coughs, eyes, diabetes and epilepsy. The more serious cases were referred to Australian specialists for diagnosis and advice on treatment.

22-26 April 2006: Village Eye Screening, Catur

The YKI screening team, with a medical team from Rumah Sakit Indera, traveled to the village of Catur, high in the mountains in Central Bali, and screened 504 village people for eye problems.

The team distributed free glasses to 111 adults and administered eye drops. Eight people were identified with blinding cataracts, and these were referred to the Rumah Sakit Indera in Denpasar for free operations.

The YKI team also visited six primary schools in Catur, and tested the eyesight of 892 pupils, Seventy-nine of these were prescribed glasses, which were later made up by YKI’s optical technician and delivered to the children.

17-20 April 2006: Cleft Operations

Two children with cleft lips and one with a cleft palate were operated by local surgeon, Dr Anom, and anaesthetist, Dr Sukra, in Denpasar hospital, Rumah Sakit Puri Raharja, in the Foundation’s regular Children’s Facial Reconstruction Program. These operations were covered by donations from Poppies Asia and individual donors.

11-13 April 2006: School Screening, Amed

The YKI screening team tackled rough, muddy roads to check the eyesight of 754 children in nine primary schools in the remote eastern end of the island. This was a review visit, in conjunction with Patrick Scott from the Rotary Club of Seminyak in Bali, following a previous screening in the same area two years earlier. Sixteen of the children and eight of the teachers required new glasses. Three children with more serious eye problems were referred to the Rumah Sakit Indera in Denpasar.

March 2006: Children’s Cataract Operations

In three separate operating sessions, four young girls and two boys were operated for cataracts and one evisceration was performed on a young boy by Dr Dharyata in the Puri Raharja Hospital. Dr Dharyata has been working with the mobile eye clinics in Bali since the first clinic started operating in 1991. He is now the Director of Rumah Sakit Indera in Denpasar. Dr Sukra was the anaesthetist for these operations. Dr Sukra generously offers his considerable expertise free of charge to the Foundation for these free children’s operations. The operations were funded by donations from Rotary District 9690, NSW, Australia, and from the American Women’s Association, Jakarta.

March 2006: Wheelchair Distribution

In March, YKI distributed four donated wheelchairs to needy disabled recipients – three in Bali, and one in the neighbouring island of Lombok. The wheelchairs provide the recipients with a mobility they would otherwise not have.

16-19 March 2006: Eye Screening, Ekasari, with Adelaide Supporters Group

The YKI screening team, together with the North Bali Mobile Eye Clinic Team and staff from Rumah Sakit Indera traveled to the village of Ekasari in the northwest of Bali with the Foundation’s Adelaide Supporters, a group of major donors to the projects. The donor group helped the team with the refraction testing and witnessed cataract operations in the mobile clinic. At the village screening 427 people were screened - 327 pairs of glasses were issued and 45 were identified as cataract blind and operated over the following few days by the NBMEC team. The YKI team also screened 721 children in four primary schools and issued glasses to twenty-four.

11 March 2006: Eye Screening, Nyuh Kuning

The YKI Screening team screened 336 village people in the village of Nyuh Kuning, Ubud, and issued 307 pairs of glasses to those who needed them. Many of those screened were ‘mangku’ from the priestly Hindu caste in the general Ubud district.

7-9 March 2006: Cleft Operations

Two cleft surgeries were performed in Rumah Sakit Puri Raharja, Denpasar – a lip operation on a 10 month old boy, Putu Eka, and a palate operation on a 20 month old girl, Indra Dewi. The operations were performed by Dr Anom, with Dr Sukra as volunteer anaesthetist.

6 March 2006: Eye Screening, North Bali Mobile Eye Clinic, Singaraja Palace

The YKI Team, working with the North Bali Mobile Eye Clinic Team, tested around 700 people in the Puri Singaraja (the Palace), identifying 124 patients with mature cataracts. The team issued 191 pairs of glasses, as well as eye drops to the patients. The patients with mature cataracts were operated by the North Bali Mobile Eye Clinic over the following days, and those with immature cataracts will be tested again in a few months.

LEFT: Nengah, from the YKI Team, checks a patient’s eyesight.
RIGHT: Gede and Komang, nurses from the NBMEC Team, checking and measuring the cataract patients.

March 2006: Tumpek Landep

Tumpek Landep: the day the Balinese make offerings for all things made of metal. The YKI fleet of vehicles, including two of the mobile clinics, as well as the office computers and other equipment, were blessed, hopefully ensuring a trouble-free period over the next few months.

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