SEEING THROUGH THE EYES OF AN OPTOMETRIST

Elmien Verster is an optometrist who volunteers her expertise to uplift rural communities. In collaboration with her, we were able to help 120 eyecare patients in one of our recent projects. And we are excited to share her experience!

“This was my first trip with Mercy Air and Flying for life,” Elmien said. “I went as the registered optometrist. I did the visual screenings, identifying various health conditions related to the eyes and treating where possible. I also got a sponsor for readymade reading glasses and could help many people with distance and near vision with those glasses. We went to various remote clinics in the Limpopo province. The Vhembe District in Limpopo is so vast, and the different villages are quite far from each other. Being able to fly with a helicopter to the different areas really made such a difference in the number of people we could see. I averaged an amount of +-30 people per day for four days (120 people).

“The need for primary eyecare is so big in South Africa,” Elmien continued. “There are very few public hospitals in a country that prescribes glasses to the public and if they do, the waiting list and backlog is so big the people wait very long to be helped with the necessary glasses. During the trip, I visited four clinics and every single day there wasn’t enough time to help the growing queue that was waiting to be seen by the optometrist.

Most of the people waiting in the queue had a mature cataract in one or both eyes that eventually leads to blindness if not removed. But if removed, their vision would be restored again. It really inspired me to know that I can pick up the cataract before it gets to that point and educate the person about it so they can understand what is happening to them. Detecting diseases before they become a huge problem is what it’s about for me.

“Many people received reading glasses that would help with their close work whatever that might look like,” Elmien added. “It really inspired me how many people got excited about the fact that they would now be able to read their Bibles again. “All in all, it was an amazing trip. It often happens that when you go on an outreach thinking you are going to help a certain group of people, you walk away feeling that they have taught you so much more than you could even give them. The people from Venda have so little but are so friendly and happy. Always laughing at something even though, to us coming from the more developed areas, it seems like their lives must be grim. I hope to join a trip like this again. Every little bit can make a difference.”

Our passion for giving back is what drives Flying for Life’s workforce. We appreciate the earnest dedication and the eagerness to do more, from everyone involved in our work. Together, we can go further in our journey of uplifting rural communities!

Flying for Life is a local initiative of MAF South Africa.

Story by Elmien Verster and Photos by Patrick Black