On November 26th, 2012, a team from Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center left for Baligeria, India in hopes to bring vision back to over 250 tribal people from West Bengal and Odisha areas by performing free cataract surgeries.
Our team of doctors and staff arrived to a small orphanage where we set up our operating room. In the course of less than a week, two surgeons performed 198 cataract surgeries. We were overwhelmed by the amount of blindness that was prevalent and how dense the cataracts were. There, unfortunately, was an endless supply of patients and eventually we had to stop since we ran out of supplies. There were so many that needed help. We truly hope all of these patients will do well with our short encounter. We acknowledge and extend a special thank you to everyone on our team who participated in this mission. The amount of work, planning, and behind-the-scenes preparation that is required for such a trip takes years and would not have been possible without the selfless acts of many remarkable people.