THE RIPPLE
THE
RIPPLE
EFFECT
EFFECT
THE RIPPLE
EFFECT
By Denis Langlois
HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD
FROM HER OPTOMETRY PRACTICE IN
THE GREATER TORONTO AREA,
DR. RADHIKA CHAWLA AND OTHER
VOLUNTEERS WITH ORBIS INTERNATIONAL TEAMED UP WITH EYECARE
PROFESSIONALS IN A SOUTH AFRICAN
CITY TO DELIVER AN INTENSIVE,
THE ORBIS IMPACT
Orbis International, which has its headquarters in New York City,
was founded in 1982 out of concerns that medical professionals in
developing countries could not attend overseas training programs
due to high costs.
The organization's solution was to bring the programs to the
trainees. With the help of grants from the United States Agency for
HANDS-ON TRAINING PROGRAM.
This particular five-day mission in
November 2014 was Chawla's second in
the city of Durban and fourth with the
34-year-old international humanitarian
organization, which is dedicated to
saving sight around the world.
The objective: serving as mentors
and trainers for the local participants in
order to help boost the skills of the workers
and empower them to lead sustainable
eyecare programs for their
communities.
“In South Africa, we were between two
different hospitals and each program we
had between three and six participants.
We are working together to examine the
patients, identify diagnoses and then
share how we would diagnose as well as
treat. So we're hands on,” Chawla said in
a recent interview.
“We're building on the skills that are
already there so that the trainees are able
to then do this after we're gone and
provide a benefit to their community.”
International Development as well as private donors, Orbis purchased a DC-8 airplane and had it converted into a fully equipped
mobile teaching hospital.
A decade later, Orbis bought and then converted its current aircraft,
a DC-10, into an ophthalmic hospital with operating, recovery and
sterile rooms as well as a teaching facility with 48-seat classroom
and audio-visual equipment that allows people to watch and hear live
surgeries throughout the plane.
Along with the Flying Eye Hospital, Orbis also performs hospitalbased training programs. Since its inception, Orbis volunteers have
conducted training programs in 92 countries.
36 Optical Prism | April 2016