Samoan Outreach October 2010

The two surgical teams from the Pacific Eye Institute hit the ground running, with patients already waiting for Dr John Szetu and Dr Mundi Qalo when they arrived at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital in Apia in Ocitber 2010. Ably assisted by eye care nurses Konio Szetu, Oge Soonafai and resident nurses Line Aunese and Sua Maleii, the team got busy and by the end of the week had performed 128 surgeries.

Meanwhile, the Savai'i team, headed by Dr Dirk Harder and Dr Johnson Kasso, and nurses Timaima Duguivalu, Susana Baledrokadroka and Luseane Esau, had a ferry trip and a hard day's work ahead readying the theatre with resident nurse Tasi Leo at the Malietoa Tanumafili II hospital in Tuasivi.

Extensive pre-screening by resident eye care nurse Tasi Leo meant there were plenty of patients waiting for surgery on the first day. Over the next week, the team performed more than 90 operations, treating cataracts and pterygium. A visit by Hollows NZ ambassador Michael Jones was a highlight for the team - and the people waiting patiently for surgery! Great support from the medical teams at both hospitals made the outreach an overwhelming success while the warmth and kindness of the Samoan people was an inspiration to the team.

TVOne Close Up reporter Hannah Ockelford travelled to Samoa with The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ to see small miracles take place in peoples lives.

http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/miracle-cataract-operation-3861393

The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ  would like to acknowledge the support of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation in the development and filming of this story. PCF is a not-for-profit organsiation foccused on improving the economic and social development of the Pacific.

The normally quiet Malietoa Tanumafli II hospital in Savai’i, Samoa bustles with activity. Eye care nurse Tasi Leo is already hard at work as the corridors fill with patients and each passing bus brings more. They all have one thing in common – either cataract blindness or another eye disease that has affected their sight, and they want to see again.

They are seeking treatment from a Fred Hollows Foundation NZ surgical team which has come to Samoa. Over the next week, queues of patients will flow through the hospital corridors as surgeons operate non-stop until the early evening. It is a hectic schedule, but also a dream come true for Tasi.

Over the previous year, he has single-handedly set up an eye health service in Savai’i. Tasi made it his mission to start an eye health service on his home island. Several years earlier in Apia, while working as a general nurse at the hospital there, he realized that many of the patients being treated, even for basic eye tests, were from Savai’i.

“It was expensive and difficult for them to travel to Apia for problems which could be easily handled at the hospital in Savai’i if there was someone there to do it,” he said.

This motivated him to train as an eye care nurse at the Pacific Eye Institute in Suva, and a year later he graduated as an ophthalmic nurse. When he returned, however, only 10 per cent of his time was allocated to building an eye care service, and no rooms were available. Undaunted, lobbied the management until he secured a small room as a clinic.

“It wasn’t much, but it was a start,” he says. “At least I could sit down and start seeing people.”

Finally a senior manager gave up his room and Tasi had his dedicated eye care clinic.

 His next goal was to arrange a surgical outreach to the island so that the huge backlog of cataract operations could be tackled.

“One of the major issues facing the country is that it has no resident ophthalmologist, so it is reliant on visiting teams. This means many people have no opportunity to get cataract surgery,” he says.

Tasi began pre-screening people for the outreach and by the time the surgical team arrived in October, he already had 70 patients booked.

By the end of the week, the team performed 90 eye surgeries, and another team working concurrently in Apia performed another 128. The outreach has been a huge achievement for Tasi, and made all the more satisfying that so many people can now see again, and have their lives restored.

“They can see their grandchild or children roaming around, it is a new world to them.”

Forum Patel, co-owner and optometrist at Specsavers Porirua, was sponsored to go on the seven-day trip to Samoa and was amazed by the reaction of the Samoan patients and communities he helped.

"The impact was phenomenal. I think we all expected some wonderful things to take place during the outreach but nothing prepared me for the overwhelming sense of joy and celebration that came from the community - not just the individual - when they realised they could see again, " he said.

Throughout the week, Forum assisted the surgeons with pre- and post-operative eye-tests on patients as well as general eye-testing.

"Most of the people we saw had been unnecessarily blind or vision-impaired for many years because of cataracts or other treatable conditions. For some, this was their only opportunity to receive treatment and that was a vary humbling experience for me; I wanted to do all I could to help." 

The Savaiian team was visited by All Black legend and Hollows NZ ambassador Michael Jones.He  visited the small village of Tafua with Forum who performed eye-tests on the older people in the village.
"At least 80 per cent of them had cataracts which will require treatment in the next couple of years so there is still a great need for ongoing work in Samoa," Forum said.

James Ensing-Trussell travelled to Samoa with the outreach team, giving his time and resources free of charge. 

James says, "My company Topic Photo is in the business of sight, and we wanted to support an organisation that utilises their resources efficiently.  The fact that The Fred Hollows Foujdation NZ trains locals made a lot of sense and we were impressed by the amount of revenue that actually made it to the operating table rather than being lost in administration.

"During my time in Samoa, I was astounded by the number of people affected by cataracts, as well as the lack of infrastructure for such a simple procedure that improves people's lives so significantly.  I was also amazed at the focus and efficiency of The Foundation's clinical staff.  It was humbling to witness their dedication and passion, and their determination to treat as many people as possible.

"Watching local doctors and nurses become involved in the programme from the ground up gave me the sense that a long-term solution was being achieved.

"This outreach was a rare and life-changing experience for me.  It was a privilege to share the experience of the patients and their families.  Seeing sad and broken people brought into the clinic who a couple of days later looked you in the eye, with their personalities completely changed - filled with laughter, joy and thanks - was amazing.

"And when you think this can happen for a $25 donation, you realize it's a cause well worth supporting."