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Thailand, 1998
A collaborative effort with the People's Eye Care Foundation of Bangkok resulted in 68 sight-restoring surgeries.
Dr. Somsran Watanachote founded People's Eye Care Foundation (PECF) in 1987 to address the growing needs of the cataract blind in Thailand. The directors of PECF encompass a diverse group of business people and industrialist unified with the single purpose of eradicating blindness.
Dr. John Haines and Dr. Somsran met when Dr. Somsran visited her daughter in Eugene, while she attended the University of Oregon. This meeting led to an invitation to serve the blind of Thailand, and an opportunity for The Eye Center to return to Thailand for a second consecutive year.
For the second year, the team consisted of Dr. John Haines, Dr. Harry Easom, Dr. Norman Goo, Lana Hobbs, Jodi Arcularius, Lisa Worthen, Diane Gandre and Katarina Haines.
The team traveled by bus with volunteer nurses and support staff from Bangkok General Hospital to Tak. This rural town borders Myanmar (formally Burma). Many of the patients served were Burmese that had crossed the border when they heard of the surgical team.
A total of 68 surgeries were performed. The eye team was ceremonially entertained with native dances and costumes. Grateful patients and their families attended the banquet with the benefit of restored vision.
Dr. Haines gave the keynote address at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists’ annual meeting in Bangkok. An important relationship was forged between The Eye Center, Surgical Eye Expeditions (S.E.E.), and People's Eye Care Foundation (P.E.C.F.). We were invited to return for subsequent eye camps