The Story of Karchung
This woman’s name is Karchung. Her husband died last year while she was simultaneously rendered blind by cataracts in both of her eyes. Our Dooley-Intermed team found her in a remote village, weeping and praying for a miracle to restore her eyesight. One week later Karchung had her sight restored in both eyes, a miracle indeed, enabled by you and others who generously support Dooley Intermed and our medical outreach programs.
Our recent medical expedition to the “Forbidden Kingdom” of Mustang was one of our largest projects in recent years, in a remote area in Nepal, deep in the Himalayan mountains. Since the Chinese invasion of Tibet this area has suffered greatly from isolation, poverty, and lack of healthcare. Local monastic students pleaded with us to bring help to their villages. Our team, personally led by Dooley-Intermed Director, Scott Hamilton, rose to the challenge as we have so many times before, to help people where need is great, and where others cannot or will not go.
Joining together with two other remarkable organizations, The Himalaya Eye Hospital and the Pema Ts’al Sakya Monastic Institute, Dooley Intermed accomplished a most successful outreach project. 18 monks and students from the Pema Ts’al Sakya Monastic Institute in Nepal gave up their summer vacation to work as our assistants and translators, and the Himalaya Eye Hospital provided a highly skilled team of five eye experts to help examine patients and perform cataract and other procedures in our remote field clinic.
Carrying nearly 400 kilograms of eye and surgical equipment, medicines and prescription eyeglasses our team traveled by aircraft, jeep, horseback, and on foot, traversing two 13,000’ mountain passes enroute to the Forbidden Kingdom of Mustang. Our equipment was carried by 33 ponies, the only means of safely navigating the steep and dangerous mountain trails.
With the capable assistance of the student volunteers, our team hosted 10 full days of eye screening clinics in 7 separate villages. In total our Dooley Intermed team examined and treated 1,660 villagers, followed by a massive 2-day field surgery clinic where 78 villagers had their eyesight restored by a highly skilled cataract surgeon. Hundreds and hundreds of eye and medical issues were treated, ten thousand vitamins pills and other medicines were dispensed, and hundreds and hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses were provided to those in need, all without any charge.
The project was a huge success, surpassing even the most optimistic expectations. We, and the people of Mustang, thank you for the donations that enabled us to provide the “Gift of Sight” to so many people in need. Karchung, the blind woman we found at the beginning of the project, says “you have given my life back to me”, she can again be a productive member of her family, see the faces of her children, and the beautiful mountains of Nepal. A miracle indeed.
To the world I may be one person, but to one person I may be the world.