You may already be looking at the picture here and wondering if this is a scene from the movie, Outbreak. No, and this isn’t my beach outfit either. So what was I doing in Bali donning this blue get-up? In this picture I’m about to go into a mobile operating room. The mobile unit in the background is one of a few commissioned by the John Fawcett Foundation to go into remote places throughout Bali screening eyesight and performing corrective surgery. So while at first glance, it may seem strange, I’m quite excited underneath the mask.

Inside the mobile operating room I watched in awe as doctors quickly removed a man’s cataract and replaced his lens. Fascinating! The doctor performed the operation looking into a microscope, while I looked on at the image of the surgery being projected on a larger screen. Honestly, I cringed and blinked rapidly when I first saw the eye and all it’s nuances projected in such detail. But as more of the man’s cloudy cataract was cleared, the beauty of what I was witnessing sank in. In a few days this man will be able to see again and it only cost about $60. I should mention these services are provided at no fee to the patients all over the island. The foundation also cares for medical abnormalities, such as cleft palates, that they come across as they meet the island’s villagers (See their website for more).

I’m glad to share another organization doing great things in Bali. You’ve got to get off the beaten path and join us!

~Dwight

More on the John Fawcett Foundation on their website Bali Eye.