Maban Cataract Camp, South Sudan
By John Cropsey
These past 6 days, I have witnessed pure beauty. The closest thing I can compare it to is the feeding of the 5,000, except we were given an impossible sea of blind people to treat. The eye team of Kenyans (from Tenwek Hospital), Burundians (from Kibuye Hospital) and South Sudanese (Samaritan's Purse) cared for over 1,500 patients in Maban, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, and performed 512 cataract surgeries on some of the world’s most difficult cataracts (lots of band keratopathy and pseudo-exfoliation with zonular instability and tiny pupils - I call it Sudanese eye). This region has no access to eye care. The nearest ophthalmologist in Juba is a three-week journey by 4x4. Thankfully we could be flown in by MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship).