Thailand February, 2003 | The Eye Center, Eugene Oregon

Petchabun, Thailand and Ho Chi Menh, Vietnam

The most ambitious campaign was initiated this year, The People Eye Care Foundation and The Eye Center (TEC) of Oregon reached across borders to enable over seven hundred to see again. An eye camp initially in Chandan Thailand was followed with three similar in Vietnam.

The team combined the most senior from TEC and Thailand’s finest including Dr. Somsron and an ophthalmologist member of parliament from Chiang Mai. Dr. Harry Easom of Milwaukee a veteran of five collaborations with Dr. Haines completed the surgeon picture.

The Thai eye camp was exhilarating productive and gratifying. One hundred and nineteen were helped to see faces of their loved ones once again.

We left Thailand bound for Vietnam with both a feeling of accomplishment and an anticipation of what would be ahead. Images of America’s last departure in 1975 from the roof top of the American Embassy were juxtaposed with modern Southeast Asia.

We were greeted by our Vietnamese hosts warmly. We split into various groups one at the Ho Chi Minh Eye Hospital, another in the outskirts of the city. The first group did modern, highly mechanized surgery, the other low tech, yet efficient extra capsular cataract surgery. Unlike Thailand no ceremonial post-op visits were conducted sharing that moment of jubilation. Instead patients were calmly seen with little said, yet we could see spreading smiles and clear eyes attesting to our efforts.

The next day we left Ho Chi Minh City for Long An in the Mekong Delta. Here a large hospital stood with a dedicated team of ophthalmologists and staff. Low tech was the approach as we watched the Vietnamese surgeons manually remove cataracts in less than ten minutes. So impressive was their efficiency that I video taped a case for display at University of Utah’s annual clinical facility meeting. Over two days we rolled up our sleeves and pitched in completing over six hundred surgeries!!

We returned to Bangkok with a new respect of the hard work and dedication the people of Vietnam had made restoring their nation.

The Peoples Eye Care Foundation hosted a large celebration in Bangkok prior to our departure. Surely we would return to this land of the people of smiles. Much was left and much taken from this remarkable experience.