09 DEC 2010: More than 200 people were examined by eye specialists in remote Mananara, Madagascar, after MAF flew a team from HVM’s Good News Hospital in Mandritsara.
The ophthalmologists spent 3½ days on the ground and carried out 20 eye operations.
This was part of our regular Madagascar Mission Run, in which our partners can book individual seats on our Cessna Caravan to reach destinations across the vast island at a highly affordable price.
Along with the eye team, pilot Josh Plett also dropped off three patients who had received treatment at the Good News Hospital and were returning to Mananara.
The impact of the flights will be long-lasting, especially for those in Mananara whose sight was restored to themJosh Plett, MAF pilot
Other passengers on the recent Madagascar Mission Run included an orthopaedic surgeon who had served at the Good News Hospital for six weeks. As well as helping out with specialised surgeries, he also provided training. Josh flew the surgeon and his wife to Mahajanga, along with another former HVM worker who was in Mandritsara.
Josh also flew a Wycliffe translation group from Mananara going to a conference in Toliar on the south-western coast, brought two Malagasy Protestant Church workers back to Mandritsara from the capital, Antananarivo, and an international aid worker returning to the capital from Mandritsara.
Meanwhile, the ophthalmologists hope to return to Mananara to do more eye operations that they were unable to complete in the limited time they had.
Pilot Josh Plett reports, ‘It was a busy two days of flying with a fair number of hours put on the aircraft. But the impact of the flights will be long-lasting, especially for those in Mananara whose sight was restored to them.’