care authorities. Working with the local health care
system was extremely important in order to leave a
lasting impact on the communities, she says.
Clinic services were offered at the health post in
Bandafassi for three days before the group travelled
four hours to Ethiolo for another three days of clinic.
“We saw 750 patients in that time and referred 46
of them for cataract surgery. Each surgery costs
roughly $120 Canadian. We decided to pay for
these exams with money raised by our team earlier
in the year. This way, we were able to support the
ophthalmic section of the Kedougou hospital,” she
says.
Jackson says the mission gave her insight into the
importance of ensuring such trips are sustainable.
“While travelling to different countries and
providing services that are not currently available is
great, we need to ask ourselves why we are doing it?”
she explains.
“If the answer is to simply feel good about ourselves,
that isn’t enough. I would encourage everyone
to consider the dangers of falling into the realm
of ‘voluntourism’, and to push themselves to be
involved in a way that is more sustainable.
“Is it worth paying the fees to import boxes and
boxes of donated glasses just to give someone a
partially correct refractive error correction? Would
it be better to pay a local lab to edge lenses instead,
thereby supporting jobs in the area? These are the
kinds of difficult questions I face.” OP
Optical Prism | May 2019 35