In the last ten years, the climate of war and terrible insecurity in Mali have caused a massive displacement of people from different communities toward Douentza, the district’s capital. This fact implies an exorbitant increase in eye care needs that the local health center cannot cover.
For this reason, Eyes of the world regularly carries out surgical commissions to operate on these people who live poorly in camps for populations displaced by internal conflicts. The last campaign occurred from March 5-19 at the Douentza Reference Health Center. Dr. Bamanta Ibrahim, an ophthalmologist and surgeon at Mopti Hospital, traveled by car with his team of medical assistants for nearly four hours, using alternate routes to avoid dangerous areas.
Eyes of the world had previously managed the donation of surgical kits so that the displaced team could operate on and fix cataracts on 167 women and 121 men. All patients were observed during the following days to guarantee the success of the interventions.
The Eyes of Mali project is funded by the Government of Navarra, the La Caixa Foundation, and the Thèa Foundation.
