It has been over a week since we wrapped up our Orbis International Flying Eye Hospital project in Zambia, and I’m still thinking about some of the incredible people I met there. I’d love to introduce you to a few of them:
◾️ Young Friday, seen clutching his new Seymour bear, after getting cataract surgery a couple of days prior. From carefully navigating every move and step to bounding down a ledge with ease, Friday's looking toward some better days.
◾️ Nurse Mutinta Mulewa, the warmest person, who works at our partner University Teaching Hospitals-Eye Hospital in Lusaka. I learned that she knew she wanted to be a nurse since she was a child, inspired to follow in her mom’s footsteps. It was so clear she was made for the job by how she made every patient feel safe and at ease.
◾️ Orbis Volunteer Faculty: Dr. Andrea Molinari, a veteran I’ve know for years but have never gotten to meet in person before, and Tamara Fountain, M.D., an Orbis first-timer, though you wouldn’t know it by how quickly she fit in with the team. Both overflowed with their passion and care for sharing their skills with local eye care professionals.
◾️ Yvette DiCarlo, the spouse of one of our dedicated Volunteer Faculty and Medical Advisory Committee members, Greg Spooner. Yvette jumped in herself to volunteer however she could. We connected at breakfast one morning, and the next thing I knew, I had a new friend and kind, funny sidekick wherever work took me for the next week.
◾️ And Brian Bwembya, popularly known as "B Flow," a Zambian musician who uses his fame and platform to raise awareness of important causes, from eye health to HIV/AIDS to gender-based violence. He led a live tour of the Flying Eye Hospital for his hundreds of thousands of social media followers so that more people in Zambia could learn about Orbis and the importance of getting their eyes checked.
I’m grateful to them all for making my time in Zambia so memorable.
Managing Director, LIFT Aero Design
1yWHAT an amazing team. Standing ovation to all of you.