A JOURNEY TO PERU WITH ORBIS INTERNATIONAL
A JOURNEY TO PERU WITH ORBIS INTERNATIONAL
I have been part of the OMEGA family since 1995. It’s a partnership I cherish most highly. And now after all this time I have just concluded perhaps my most memorable project with OMEGA and its partner, Orbis International: a journey to Peru to witness first-hand the amazing work of this extraordinary organization saving the vision of people in the developing world. At the heart of Orbis’s work is its Flying Eye Hospital.
The baggage handlers at Trujillo airport await a unique visitor. An aircraft unlike any other in the world. The Flying Eye Hospital (FEH), a fullyequipped mobile teaching hospital.
A DC-10 LIKE NO OTHER: A fully self-sufficient mobile ophthalmic hospital and teaching facility.
1. 1 Flight deck: roomy enough to seat a three-
5. 5 Operation room: strategically placed in the
member crew and two observers.
most stable part of the plane - between the wings its five cameras provide close-up and wide shots of
2. 2 Classroom: containing 48 seats, this is where
the procedure at hand.
local eye healthcare professionals can gather for lectures and discussions and view live broadcasts of
6 Sub-sterile room: the area where nurses and 6.
procedures being perfomed in the operation room.
doctors wash their hands and sterilise intruments for surgery. The water used here is filtered onboard
3 Audio visual room: 17 cameras, eight 3.
through a 12-step process using charcoal, UV light
microphones and 54 video monitors stationed
and chemical compound filters.
throughout the plane allow local medical staff to interact with doctors as they operate.
7 Recovery room: for recovering patients 7. following surgery as well as training local nurses
4 Laser and examination room: patients are 4. examined here before and after an operation. In this room staff can also perform laser procedures or train other medical professionals to perform intraocular surgery using the EYESI速 simulator.
in the best patient care practices.
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My daughter Kaia travelled with me and we were able to visit Lima, Cuzco and Machu Picchu before heading to the coastal town of Trujillo. This is where the plane was based during the two-week program in Peru. It is the largest plane that has ever landed at this airport. The airport stairs had to be specially customized to reach the door.
The Marinera is a traditional dance of Peru.
For 3000 years Peruvians have gone to sea in their reed fishing boats. They are called “Caballitos de totora�. The little reed horses.
THE NATURAL REGIONS OF PERU
OTUZCO TRUJILLO
LIMA There are three primary environments in Peru, and all of them are challenging. There are the dry moonscapes along the Pacific coast, the thin air of the high
DESERT
Andes and the humid jungles of the Amazon. Particularly in the Andes the people of Peru walk a precarious path. Because of the exposure to higher levels of UV light, Peru has an unusually high incidence of blindness in people
MOUNTAINS
over 50 years age.
AMAZON JUNGLE
Increased levels of UV light in the Andes contribute to unusually high rates of blindness in Peru.
Ladies in Otuzco wearing their traditional hand-made sombreros.
Health remedies found in the local market.
This travelling doctor uses some ingenuity to turn his phone into a useful examination tool.
The World Health Organization reports that 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide – including 39 million who are blind and 246 million who have low vision – of whom 90 percent live in developing countries like Peru. A recent national survey showed that 2.1 percent of adults over 50 years of age are blind, the majority suffering from easily treatable conditions such as cataracts. Due to the cost and limited availability of care, many Peruvians are not able to access the necessary treatment.
285 million people are visually impaired worldwide - 90% live in developing countries.
It looks like a regular passenger jet from the outside but on the inside, it hosts an opthalmic hospital and teaching facility right on board. Local eye health professionals in the front of the plane can watch the operation in real time, take notes and even ask the surgeons questions.
A local religious custom: these people are being blessed for health, wealth and properity.
On board there are 17 cameras that record the treatment in progress.
First time on a plane and first time in surgery. It’s a big day.
Cataract surgery happens one eye at a time. The surgeons mark the eye selected for the operation. Some use crosses and one surgeon on this trip used smiley faces for the children.
Since 1982, Orbis has visited 92 countries.
Not all the operations take place on the plane. Surgery is also performed at the local hospital to train local eye health professionals with the tools they have at hand. It’s no use working with instruments and machines that disappear once the program is over.
Many on the Orbis team are volunteers, spending weeks away from their families in the service of others.
Even though the landscape might sometimes look harsh, the people of Peru are dazzingly colorful.
The Orbis visit is an energized time for local staff – lots of learning and laughing with their new colleagues.
Patients travel long distances on screening days for the chance of an operation.
Dr. Douglas Fredrick uses his knowledge of Spanish and Dora the Explorer to examine the patient’s eyesight.
Operations to correct strabismus take anywhere from two to four hours depending on the complexity of the case.
My daughter Kaia loved spending time with the little girls waiting for operations.
The teddy bear is an Orbis tradition all over the world. It is just as comforting for the mothers as it is for the patients.
Dr. Douglas Fredrick – volunteer faculty member.
Cindy’s first time witnessing an operation.
After Dayana’s two-hour operation, her mother is very relieved.
80% of visual impairment in the world is avoidable or curable.
Through Orbis’s work, more than vision is restored. Orbis has rebalanced the playing field, evened the equation and given these people a fresh opportunity to take on life’s challenges. My sincere thanks to the volunteers, the staff and the patients who kindly allowed us into their worlds. The Orbis staff and volunteers are a reminder that our lives should not measured by what we accumulate, but by what we give.
OMEGA is proud that part of the proceeds from the sale of some very special watches are donated directly to Orbis in support of its fight against visual impairment and curable and avoidable blindness around the world. The Constellation Blue and the De Ville Hour Vision Blue are extraordinary timepieces. And each time you look at yours, we hope that you will think of Orbis International and the incredible difference it has made in so many lives, thanks in part to your help.
The OMEGA Constellation Star 27mm features a distinctive sun-brushed blue dial with applied 18K white gold elements and white Super LumiNova on the hands. Its stainless steel case gleams with a diamondpaved bezel and is presented on a stainless steel bracelet, giving this unique wristwatch an appearance which is both timeless and bold. At its heart is OMEGA’s exclusive Co-Axial calibre 8520, a self-winding mechanical chronometer movement visible through the scratch-resistant sapphire crystal caseback. There is also a 24 mm version of the Constellation Star powered by OMEGA’s calibre 1376, a quartz movement with incredibly reliable precision.
Constellation Star
123.15.24.60.03.001
123.15.27.20.03.001
De Ville Hour Vision
431.33.41.21.03.001
431.33.41.22.03.001
For more information about this project or how else you can contribute to Orbis and its fight against avoidable and curable blindness and other visual impairments, please visit www. omegawatches.com/orbis
Printed in Switzerland Š OMEGA - 2015 - 3332403015UK