Archived Appeals

Carmel Williams, Executive Director of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ, outlines some of The Foundation's achievements in 2006 and identifies the challenges ahead (November 2006): "Walking through hospitals in Papua New Guinea is always a personal challenge for me.  We literally look poverty and hardship in the eye and see the despair when people cannot be helped because there is no eye doctor, no equipment ...." Read more

Alberto da Costa Flores, working with The Foundation in Timor-Leste, writes about the challenges facing the world's newest country (August 2006), "Limited investment in eye care in the past has led to a backlog of approximately 10,000 people blind with cataracts, which is growing daily, and about 45,000 who have poor vision that affects their independence ..." Read more

Dr Johnson Kasso writes about his first year as Vanuatu's only eye doctor (May 2006): "My aim is to reach the remote parts of the country that have not been screened for eye health problems for many years, as these communities have no hope of getting the surgery they need to cure their blindness unless we reach them ... " Read more (pdf)

Dr Lusiana (Lusi) Naikawakawanvesi, Trainee Eye Doctor
at The Pacific Eye Institute in Honiara, Solomon Islands, writes about how much of a difference her training will make (February 2006): "I had been working at the eye clinic in Suva, Fiji, for 12 months when The Foundation asked me to travel to Honiara to train as a fully-fledged eye doctor. After my training I will return to Fiji and will be able to perform cataract surgery and other essential blindness prevention procedures for my fellow Fijians..." Read more (pdf)

Dr Jambi Garap, Medical Advisor to The Fred Hollows Foundation (NZ) - PNG Eye Care Program (November 2005), writes about avoidable blindness in Papua New Guinea: " Eighty five percent of the population live in rural areas...inaccessible by road and air, and have poor or non-existent essential services. Socio-economic status is very low and they find it difficult to find any form of health services. Even if they do, eye health is a low priority..." Read more (pdf)

Dr John Szetu, ophthalmologist in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands (August 2005) writes about the plans for the new eye care centre to be built in Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands: "This will be the only fully equipped eye clinic in our country of 500,000 people. We expect that we will be able to do about 1,500 cataract operations a year, as well as treat all the other eye conditions that will be referred to the clinic..." Read more (pdf)

Tereapii Teina, Eye Care Nurse in the Cook Islands (May 2005) writes about the the new vision centre which has been opened in Rarotonga: "I have been quite overwhelmed with patients. As soon as people here heard there was an eye clinic they came from all over the island ..." Read more (pdf)

Carmel Williams, Executive Director (February 2005) identifies the widespread and initial impact of a blindness survey in Papua New Guinea: "Living and health conditions in PNG never fail to shock me. Within two weeks of the survey starting, nearly 200 people had already been booked for cataract surgery, and many more had ..." Read more (pdf)

Gabi Hollows, Founding Director (November 2004) talks about the important and lifechanging work being undertaken at Tilganga Eye Centre in Nepal: "The mother jumped out of bed and ran towards the child that had made the noise. She went like lightening. She grasped him and hugged him, tight. It was the first time she had seen her child. She had always recognised him by his sounds ..." Read more (pdf)

Neil Finn, Ambassador for The Fred Hollows Foundation (August 2004) describes his experience travelling in Vietnam and seeing for himself the impact of The Foundation's work with local partners: "To witness the joy on the faces of those who had been blind and could suddenly see again was very moving and made me feel proud to be part of such a successful and effective organisation ..." Read more (pdf)

Dr John Szetu, Ophthalmologist and Programme Manager, Vanuatu National Eye Care Programme (May 2004) talks about Marie and Jetie Simo, who were unable to attend school and play like normal children because they had been blind from the time they were toddlers: "They were two of the children I examined during my surgical team's visit to the southernmost provincial hospital in Vanuatu last year. Unaware that their blindness was reversible, the children and their parents were resigned to a lifetime of dependency....." Read more (pdf) 

Dr Jambi Garap, Medical Adviser (February 2004) describes the desperate need for trained doctors and nurses in PNG: "I am writing to you as one of only eight ophthalmologists working in Papua New Guinea; a country of over five million people Most developed countries have over 130 ophthalmologists for this many people, so we have a desperate need for more doctors and nurses to be trained, and eye care services to be improved.  ..." Read more (pdf)

Mike Lynskey, Chief Executive (November 2003) shares the journey that Cambodian woman Chey Sam took to reverse the devastating effects of her cataract blindness: "Chey Sam is a 67 year old widow living in a remote rural village in the Kampong Thom province of Cambodia. She survived the killing fields of the Pol Pot regime but states matter-of-factly that she contemplated suicide when she lost her sight. It seems that civil war and genocide did not break her spirit; blindness nearly did..." Read more (pdf)

Gabi Hollows, Patron of The Fred Hollows Foundation Miracle Club (August 2003) illustrates the difference a regular pledge donation will make to people like Zubaida Bibi in Pakistan: "Thanks to your generosity, the miracle of sight is being restored to people in different corners of the world, every day. But the sad reality is that millions more are still waiting to see the light. You would be aware that it costs as little as $25 to perform a sight-saving cataract operation in some developing countries. In other words, a regular gift equivalent to the cost of a couple of movie tickets will actually help restore the sight of someone, somewhere in the world, every month..." Read more (pdf)

Carmel Williams, New Zealand Country Manager (May 2003) illustrates the overwhelming difficulty but ultimate reward of having sight restored in a Pacific setting: "Before her eye operations, Lasela had cataract blindness in both her eyes, and had to be led by her daughter through the crowded National Hospital in Apia to see Dr Mau Imo, the only eye doctor in Samoa. Although she was a strong and determined grandmother, Lasela was tired of being dependent on her family. She did not want to be a burden..." Read more (pdf)