October 10 is World Sight Day, a global annual day of awareness for blindness and vision impairment. This month, Thuong Huynh, Manager at Kensington Eye Institute, shares her experience aboard the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital (above).
Orbis is a non-profit organization that has been a pioneer in the prevention and treatment of blindness globally for more than 35 years. The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is aboard an MD-10 aircraft that serves as a fully-accredited ophthalmic (medicine of the eye) teaching hospital.
Orbis and their team of volunteer eye care professionals, including those from the Kensington Eye Institute, travel around the world to provide hands-on training with the hopes of transforming lives by delivering accessible, quality eye care to communities.
“Canadians make up over 20% of Orbis’s global network of volunteer eye health professionals – the highest number of volunteers per capita of any Orbis-affiliated country,” says Lisa McKeen, CEO of Orbis Canada. “It’s something we’re really proud of and it goes to show the contribution Canadians are making in the global effort to end avoidable blindness.”
Going back home
Thuong Huynh, Manager at Kensington Eye Institute
This year, the Flying Eye Hospital visited Hue, a city in central Vietnam. Sixteen volunteers embarked on this trip, including Kensington’s very own, Thuong Huynh, Manager of Kensington Eye Institute. This three-week project focused on diabetic retinopathy (damage to the eye due to diabetes), retinopathy of prematurity (an eye disease that occurs in premature babies) and childhood blindness.
For Thuong, though, the trip was extra special.
Thuong was born in Vietnam and her family left for Canada by boat when she was three. The trip with Orbis marked her first return to Vietnam, 35 years after leaving. It was also her first flight – ever!
“It was nice returning to my home country to experience the culture, the people and the different cities,” said Thuong. “What made my return home particularly special was visiting my grandma in her home city of Saigon. She is someone who’s very special to me, and who I haven’t seen in 20 years.”
Helping those in Vietnam with vision impairment
Thuong (left) helped develop the skills of ophthalmic nurses while in Vietnam.
Thuong’s role on the trip was to teach nurses the purposes of surgical instruments, and how to actively listen, adapt and react to a surgeon’s needs during a procedure.
“Walking into the local hospital, all of the children’s faces lit up with excitement and big smiles as soon as they saw us,” said Thuong, remembering the first day her team entered the Vietnamese hospital. “It was a rewarding feeling knowing that we were helping the Vietnamese population with their eye care needs.”
While Thuong did much of the instructing, the trip served as a learning opportunity for her as well.
“The trip was a great opportunity for everyone to learn, not just the Vietnamese ophthalmologists, surgeons and nurses,” she said. “It’s unique to see that there are many ways to perform tasks and to go about a surgery. From their methodology, tools and even work attire, not every culture accomplishes something the same way we do in Canada.”
To learn more about Orbis, visit: can.orbis.org