The Foresight Sumba Eye Program has just returned from Sumba, NTT East Indonesia, after a week of screening, teaching and discussions with hospital officials. Our Eye Care nurses Nefry and Sany were joined with 3 newly appointed nurses – (Nicky, Frankie and Geoffrey) from the Sumba Foundation, under the guidance of Dr Claus Bogh.
 Dr Cristi, Adelina & PP Mark Ellis in discussions |  ECN training at the end of the day at the hotel |
Dr Adelina Poli, who was the UNHAS representative from Makassar, was instrumental in our work. The Australian team consisted of Rowena Beckham, Craig Cameron and the directors and long-term friends, Peter Lewis OAM and Peter Stewart OAM. There was discussion with officials about the eventual development of a permanent eye clinic staffed by Indonesian Ophthalmologists. The screening was mainly pre-schoolers at their kindergartens and then general clinics. Overall, 446 were screened with 173 being pre-schoolers, 286 glasses dispensed and 39 referrals for surgery (mainly cataract) for our surgical clinic in May 2024, in cooperation with PERDAMI and UNHAS.
Mark Ellis