I do expect that the next clinic will be incredibly busy.  I am also expecting a wave of clients  to come from a new referral source.

This trip I’d been invited to address an optometrists conference.  Many of the participants told me that they had no idea where to refer people presenting with the need for an artificial eye or conformer shell.  I was left with the impression that there will be lots of referrals from now on.

I met up with Tess Presswell from The Fred Hollows Foundation.  The Foundation are very active doing valuable work  in the Northern Territory.  Tess mentioned that she  is working toward getting Alice Springs Hospital to pay for eye prostheses.  In  Australia  if you have your eye removed at a public hospital your prosthesis is automatically paid for by the hospital.  In Alice Springs communities have to fund raise to pay for anyone needing an artificial eye.

In Darwin I dropped in to the eye clinic at the Royal Darwin Hospital and got to meet some of the ophthalmologists working there.  I showed them the Adjusting to Eye Loss mind map and explained how we are using it.   They have booked me up to talk to their staff during my next visit in July. The Royal Darwin Hospital eye clinic staff have been very supportive of my clinics in Darwin. 

As a person who has always been very shy about speaking in public I am amazed to find myself willingly taking on this role.  I guess my determination to spread the word about eye loss recovery is stronger than my fears about public speaking. 

My next Darwin Artificial Eye Clinic starts on Monday, 20th July 2009.

Although I arrived with no expectations I certainly under estimated how tough it was going to be. The communication was my biggest challenge. There are four languages spoken and english is the least common. Many of my clients were blind which meant that I couldn’t even communicate with hand signals!

To establish a clinic like mine, you really need to take absolutely everything that you are going to need. The very few assumptions I made created significant problems for me.

For example, butane gas lighter refills just weren’t available anywhere.

Running water was not available in the clinic space. I had an open window for a sink and bottled water for washing hands.

Time is not regarded in the same way in Timor. No matter what time I made appointments for people they all showed up at the crack of dawn. I would arrive to find a crowd waiting for me.

I am looking forward to going back to the East Timor Clinic some time next year. With this first visit out of the way I now have a better understanding of the challenges.

Next time I’ll be better organised, with a hospital clinic space, a translator and  experience of how things work.

Sunway Medical Centre is a large private hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The Centre has recently opened their Centres of Excellence with several outpatient clinics. Included in the clinics is a large Ophthalmology Department with an Eye Clinic.

This clinic offers a premium artificial eye service to the people of Malaysia and surrounding regions. Patients are offered the most advanced technology in artificial eyes as well as a package of education and follow up consultations. I am very pleased to be part of such a devoted team of professionals.

Kuala Lumpur is also hosting an International Opthalmology Conference in March 2009. I have been asked to present a paper on Ocular Prosthetics with a special focus on maintenance and education.

It is not often I get the opportunity to speak to an international group of specialists. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with them. This is a wonderful opportunity to help advance the services for people with artificial eyes worldwide.

The hospital has an impressive history that goes back to its establishment in England two hundred years ago. It is the largest training hospital in the world.

Moorfields has set up a branch now in Dubai. I am working there with Dr Andrea Sciscio, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon.. The hospital is a supportive environment to work in. Clients are provided with first class service including a translator if necessary. The facilities are state of the art.

Our client base in Dubai come from all parts of the Middle East. I enjoy meeting people from so many cultures and walks of life.

My next trip will be on 4 March 2009. If you would like to arrange to see me there, please see the contact information on this link to Moorfields Eye Hospital.

I was invited there as a guest of the John Fawcett Foundation.  John Fawcett is a West Australian who moved to Bali in 1991 and saw a need to address the preventable blindness that is prevalent among the local people.

John Fawcett achieved this by creating a wonderful environment for operations to be done as well as organising the specialists to come to Bali and train local people. 

To date they have conducted twenty-seven thousand cataract operations.  This week we made artificial eyes for people from young children to elderly folk.

The foundation runs out-reach clinics, organises visiting specialists and trains local people in all aspects of the running of the foundation.

Please click on the link to make a donation or to find out more about the John Fawcett Foundation