Our Work
What started as a family volunteer trip in 2014 has now expanded tremendously to provide eyecare to all in need in Ethiopia. Bringing Israeli volunteers (both physicians and laypeople) with us to actively participate in our work is an important part of our organization.
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“It says in the Tanach [Bible] we should be a ‘light unto the nations.’ You are truly bringing light with your sight-saving efforts to so many people in Ethiopia.”
Mobile Eyecare Clinics
With our Mobile Eyecare clinics, we go directly to villages where patients lack access to care. What’s unique about us is we’re fully mobile, and bring everything with us (including an amazing volunteer team from Israel of both physicians and laypeople!) to screen and treat hundreds of patients a day on-site.
We work with community partners in advance of our clinic to spread the word about when and where we will be offering free treatment.
- We bring equipment that can be used in the field to screen for glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases.
- We check vision, refract patients who need eyeglasses, and dispense eyeglasses on the spot — including distance and reading glasses.
- Medications are given as needed.
For over 90% of our patients, we can fully take care of their problem at the clinic. For patients needing ongoing follow-up or surgery, we write out a hospital referral card for them.
To-date, we have treated over 13,000 patients who would not have otherwise received needed medications, glasses and eyecare, helping avoid serious eye diseases and in some cases even blindness.
Cataract Surgery Campaigns
Cataracts are the leading cause of preventable blindness in Ethiopia, a country where a staggering 1% of the population is blind.
Twice a year, we run Cataract Campaigns where we literally restore eyesight to over 400 blind people during the course of one week. We hire Ethiopian cataract surgeons and bring them to a central area for the campaign. Four surgeons operate concurrently morning to evening for one week, allowing us to treat hundreds of patients in one week. We partner with the amazing organization Cure Blindness Project for added assistance and oversight of our campaigns.
The total loaded cost including staff, medical materials, transportation for patients, equipment rental, etc. is just $65 per patient. Put in different terms, it costs $65 to literally help a blind person see again! We are thrilled to have restored eyesight to over 2,800 people, changing their lives entirely.
Oculoplastic Surgery Campaigns
Oculoplastic surgery deals with diseases and structures of the eyelids, eye-sockets, and tear ducts. In Ethiopia, many people suffer from a range of oculoplastics issues, including blocked tear ducts which can cause dacryocystitis and severe facial infection, traumatic deformities of the orbit, tumors on the eyelids, congenital defects, and more.
We organize Oculoplastic Surgery Campaigns, where we bring Israeli oculoplastic surgeons together with local Ethiopian surgeons who we have trained in Israel through our doctor training program, and over the course of one week we operate on upwards of 120 people.
There are only eight oculoplastic surgeons in all of Ethiopia and five of them have spent time training with Operation Ethiopia in Israel. Outside of scheduled campaigns, our Israeli oculoplastic surgeons operate a few times a year in Ethiopia on complex cases and also use it as a teaching opportunity for local doctors and residents.
Community First Aid & CPR Training
We empower local communities with the tools they need for better medical care.
After a time working in Ethiopia, we noticed a lack of first-aid and emergency care skills, so we started offering basic first-aid classes and CPR in the areas we serve.
Our volunteer Israeli EMTs have trained over 185 hospital staff in First-Aid and CPR at Gondar University Hospital, and groups of young people in the Gondar Jewish community.
Physician Training Program
We provide world class training to Ethiopian ophthalmologists in ophthalmic subspecialties. We bring ophthalmologists to Israel for 3-12 month training periods in Cornea, Pediatrics and/ or Oculoplastics.
When we travel to Ethiopia to run Oculoplastic Surgery campaigns, we also use them as teaching opportunities. Local ophthalmology residents are invited to work alongside our Israeli surgeons in the operating room, receiving hands-on training and instruction.
To date, we have trained 20 Ethiopian ophthalmologists under the direction of Prof. Morris Hartstein, MD at Shamir Medical Center and at Sheba Medical Center in Israel.
Our goal is to give local Ethiopian physicians the skills to care for patients in their own communities, and to also build long-term partnerships with the physicians who we train.
The program does not end after their fellowships. We go to Ethiopia several times a year to run surgery campaigns and we hire the doctors we trained to join us in those efforts, operating side-by-side to provide free surgeries to patients in Ethiopia.
Our doctor-training program is generously supported by ASOPRS (American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons).
Learn more about our doctor training program here.
Our Impact
Our initial volunteer trip has evolved into a robust organization that runs several medical missions a year, some of which bring Israeli volunteers (both physicians and laypeople) to help us do our work.
To date, we have:
- Examined and treated over 13K patients in our Mobile Eyecare Clinics
- Performed over 2800 eyesight-restoring cataract surgeries and over 400 oculoplastic surgeries
- Distributed over 2k pairs of eyeglasses and nearly 6k+ units of medications
- Trained 185 people in first-aid
- Trained 20 Ethiopian ophthalmologists in ophthalmic subspecialties
- Brought over 50 Israeli volunteers with us, providing them an inspiring experience where they directly help large numbers of people in need
Help make our work possible
Your support makes our work possible. A small donation of just $120 allows us to treat 10 patients in our Mobile Eyecare Clinics.
Make a Donation