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.

Fifty years ago Dr. Tom Dooley and Dr. Verne Chaney joined forces to provide humanitarian care to people living beyond the reach of traditional healthcare. That marked the beginning of the Dooley-Intermed Foundation.  Our organization has since grown to be one of the oldest, most trusted and experienced charitable organizations in the USA. Since those early days, we have always stood ready to provide help to people where need is great, often in places where other organizations cannot or will not go. Our work begins where the road ends.

Photo by Lars Perkins.

This legacy continues in August of 2011 when Dooley-Intermed embarks on one of our largest and most ambitious aid projects to date.  The goal is to bring the “Gift of Sight” to hundreds of poor villagers. Our Dooley-Intermed team will be traveling on foot and horseback, crossing multiple 13,000′ Himalayan passes, transporting equipment on ponies, accompanied by 18 Buddhist monastic students volunteering their Summer break to serve as translators and assistants for this important project.  Our team will conduct a series of eye and medical screening camps in remote villages where blindness and poor vision are prevalent.  Loss of eyesight is incredibly devastating in these remote areas.  Families barely surviving at subsistence levels are often dragged into abject poverty when a family member loses their eyesight or suffers fro low vision.

Our Dooley-Intermed team will conduct eye and vision screenings, providing prescription eyeglasses and medical treatment for all in need, from infants to seniors, free of charge.  Our skilled team, with the assistance of qualified eye surgeons, will also host a multi-day field cataract & eye surgery clinic in a remote village, providing essential vision care and sight-restoring treatment to those who would otherwise never have access to quality care.

The gift of restored vision is a very real and life-changing “miracle” to people who are blind or visually impaired, and provides a lifetime full of new opportunities.

It is your donations to Dooley-Intermed that makes these miracles possible. In the next few weeks children will be able to see well enough to play and learn, adults to return to productive work, and seniors will see their grandchildren for the first time, miracles indeed.  Please help us make these dreams come true.

Key partners in this project were the Pema Ts’al Sakya Monastic Institute and the Himalaya Eye Hospital. Pema Ts’al coordinated local transportation and provided the site for the project while the Himalaya Eye Hospital sent a team of expert technicians to assist our Dooley-Intermed team with examinations and refractions. Hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses were dispensed to patients of all ages. Cataract operations and other surgeries were arranged simultaneously with highly skilled surgeons, performed at the Himalaya Eye Hospital in Pokhara.

Patients awaiting their eye and vision examinations

Young monks with their brand new eyeglasses, happy because they can see clearly.

Cataract surgery restored this woman’s eyesight.

Registration area for the medical clinic, a lot of patients!

Dr. Indira Kairam, a Dooley-Intermed volunteer, examined and treated over 400 patients with medical needs.

Participation was outstanding. This Dooley-Intermed project was a huge success thanks to your support. Just $25 dollars is all that is required to provide a single-eye cataract operation, restoring the gift of sight to someone in need. That is truly amazing. Thanks!

This project was so successful we are working on plans for an even larger outreach clinic in the remote area of Mustang in Western Nepal, currently in the works for next summer, 2011. Check back for updates. And please remember, your gift can

New roadway to the orphanage

The new orphanage is in a beautiful rural area, away from the filth and congestion of the city area, with plenty of clean air and lush fields surrounding the building site. Here’s a photo of the boundary walls under construction.

Orphanage boundary walls, surrounded by fields and hills.

Orphanage construction, guardhouse and bathrooms take shape.

This is, of course, a huge project and donations are urgently needed to help see this amazing project through to completion. Your gifts help provide  these kids with a new home.  Help us make their dream come true. Thanks!

Dr. Tom Roberts, aka “Dr. Tom” treats a dental patient in Nepal clinic.

Your contributions helped Dooley-Intermed fund two brand new Aseptico portable dental units for this outstanding project. Each unit is a self-contained dental unit, complete with suction and handset, enabling top quality care to be rendered.

Portable Aseptico dental units, ideal for remote clinics.

Dr. Tom reports that the incidence of tooth decay was up this past year, largely due to the local diet, and lack of proper dental hygiene. His team has made preventative care a priority, and now includes classes on proper dental hygiene and brushing. The project planned for Spring of 2011 will bring much needed care to hundreds of people, especially children, in need. Contributions are much needed. Thanks for your support !