Empower our Eye Health Heroes!

“TEACH THE TEACHERS FIRST. THEN THE TEACHERS CAN TEACH OTHERS”, FRED FAMOUSLY SAID. 

We invest in training a range of people from ophthalmologists to community health workers so there are more eye health professionals ready to help tackle the many millions of cases of avoidable blindness. Dr Ciku Mathenge and Dr Ouk Soleaphy are two female surgeons trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation  who are working tirelessly to improve the eye health systems in their countries while helping to overcome gender barriers.

Empowering young ophthalmologists is very important to us, as it ties in directly with what Fred believed in: train one surgeon and they’ll train hundreds more.

[Eye Health Heroes: The alternative is to do nothing which is not an alternative.] 

Dr Phetsamone has been taking care of his blind grandmother since childhood, which planted the seed for his future as a doctor. He became the first cataract surgeon trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation in Laos.

Dr Phetsamone is an extraordinary doctor who always responds with an "I can do it" attitude and carries a radiant smile as he performs surgeries, bringing light to the needlessly blind. 

In remote areas where we provide sight-restoring services, access to basic resources such as electricity is extremely important. In cases where there is no electricity, Dr Phetsamone transforms into an automotive mechanic, removing batteries from cars to power the surgical equipment.



Dr Phetsamone is the first cataract surgeon trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation in Laos. Despite limited resources and inadequate electricity, he sees no obstacles.Even with a high demand for blindness relief, he quietly drives his own van, going from village to village, house by house, seeking those in need and providing assistance were needed.

[Eye Health Heroes: He told me he had the best time of his life helping his hometown and feeling useful to his community.] 

Dr Levi decided to leave the comforts of living in France and return home in 2006 to a country suffering the aftershock of civil war. Burundi has abundant natural beauty, but behind the lush greenery and jagged mountain peaks is severely damaged infrastructure and a collapsed healthcare system. At the point Levi returned, all eye surgery was done by visiting ophthalmologists.

Eyesight makes a huge difference to health outcomes and is especially vital for those who are poverty-stricken. What many people don’t realise is that cataract in adults is different to cataract in children.


The brain develops visual pathways in our early years, and if a child cannot see before the age of 10, these pathways don’t develop, leading to permanent blindness. Another complicating factor is that treatment for children is more complicated and expensive than for adults.

There are striking similarities between Levi and Fred Hollows, founder of The Foundation: both men were talented surgeons who had a strong sense of social justice, and both men were wholeheartedly dedicated to a cause they believed in. The Fred Hollows Foundation provided significant support in terms of training and equipment. Levi has worked with The Fred Hollows Foundation for many years. The financial support he receives has helped him save the sight of children in need.

Dr Levi notes that in countries like Burundi, “Very few blind [children] go above five years… the parents tend to abandon these kids and most of them they’re going to die [of] malnutrition”.

[Eye Health Heroes: The Troubles of Kenya's First Female Ophthalmologist] 

Dr Ciku, the first female ophthalmologist trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation in Africa, may find that her job as an eye doctor is not the most challenging part of her work. But rather it is the difficulty of explaining to patients that she is a female doctor. 

She says, "After some patients undergo surgery and remove their eye patches, they ask me to thank the doctor on their behalf. When I tell them that I am the doctor, it becomes a funny and heartwarming moment. But Dr Ciku also deeply understands how important her work is. She believes that training female medical professionals can help female patients feel more at ease.



Dr Ciku has restored sight to thousands of people. When she first graduated, she learned how to treat cataracts with intraocular lens under the guidance of the medical director of The Fred Hollows Foundation at the time. This was a groundbreaking technique at the time, and it was not expensive, benefiting many cataract patients. Since then, Dr Ciku has continuously trained other surgeons in this simple and effective technique, allowing more patients to enjoy high-quality and affordable cataract surgeries.

A cataract surgery, with the insertion of an intraocular lens, takes only 15 minutes, and patients can move freely the next day.

It's truly miraculous.

[Eye Health Heroes: The Healing Hands of 120,000 Surgeries]

In the 1980s, Dr Ruit conducted a blindness survey in Nepal, where he met Professor Fred Hollows, the founder of The Fred Hollows Foundation. They became fast friends and Fred soon became his mentor. They joined hands to bring affordable eye care services to the people of Nepal and other developing countries. Dr Ruit is a master of ophthalmic surgery, capable of completing a cataract surgery in just five minutes.

In the 1980s, he joined forces with Professor Fred Hollows to change the ophthalmic world. Together, they worked towards their shared dream of establishing affordable ophthalmic medical services and empowering ophthalmologists, as it ties in directly with what Fred believed in: train one surgeon and they’ll train hundreds more.



Today, Dr Ruit has performed over 120,000 sight-restoring surgeries and shows no signs of slowing down. People living in remote areas yearn for simple surgeries and treatments to restore their vision, but poverty makes it difficult for them to afford the cost of treatment or travel expenses. Due to the shortage of personnel, patients often have to wait long periods of time to receive a simple cataract surgery, and many are unaware that their sight could be restored.

Two limited edition “Eye Health Heroes” lens cloth for you. 

To thank you for your generous support, we have specially designed a set of two limited edition “Eye Health Heroes” lens cloth for you. Starting from today, sign up as a monthly donor to receive one “Eye Health Hero” lens cloth. Lens cloth design will be selected randomly. For a monthly donation of HK$350 or more, you will receive a set of two lens cloths. Be a Visionary and donate now to empower more eye health heroes.

Lens cloth size: 15cm X 15cm 

TRAINING PEOPLE 

The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. No matter where we work, our aim is to build local skills and public health capacity at every level. We not only treat patients, we train surgeons, doctors, nurses, healthcare and community workers to recognise, refer and treat eye problems and we work with health authorities and other partners to empower local people to deliver local services. Through investment in training, we can achieve:

• Increase the number of trained medical professionals to help more patients with avoidable blindness
• Reduce the backlog of patients with eye diseases, in particular patients with cataract and trachoma who are in dire need of surgery
• Increase the pool of skilled eye health professionals to assist with the latest medical technology
• Improve the access to eye health services for females by training more female eye doctors and eye health professionals

In 2023 alone, The Foundation trained 36,804 surgeons, nurses and teachers. A monthly donation of HKD250 can help train an ophthalmologist. One ophthalmologist can perform up to 1,000 surgeries per year, helping save the sight of more people in need.

ARE DONATIONS MADE TO THE FRED HOLLOWS FOUNDATION TAX DEDUCTIBLE? 

Yes, The Fred Hollows Foundation (HK) Limited is registered as a Hong Kong charity and our Tax-Exempt Charity No is 91/13694.

 

WHAT IMPACT CAN YOUR DONATION BRING?

Blindness and vision impairment is a health issue, and related to a person's well-being, quality of life and development opportunities. The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. Our vision is to build sustainable, good quality and affordable eye care in remote areas of the world. 

Your donation will be used to: 

• Train surgeons or eye health workers 
• Provide medical equipment 
• Organize eye screening camps in remote areas 
• Raise awareness of eye health to the public 
• Invest in innovation and research  

The above work will help build the local capacity of eye health in remote areas. Doctors, nurses and community eye care staff can identify, diagnose, refer and treat various eye diseases on time in the community. The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. Our aim is to build a sustainable eye health workforce in remote areas to help people have their sight restored.