Years of military rule by Indonesia and the struggle for independence took their toll on the country of East Timor.
Today, medical facilities are less than sanitary and patients will gladly wait however long it takes to see a doctor. Infections are common in the impoverished country, and on average, a resident lives to the age of 65. The country has one of the lowest per capita income rates in the world.
“The airport still looked like a war zone,” said Dr. Peter Zloty, an ophthalmologist with Southeast Eye Clinic in Dothan.
Zloty and Dr. Michael Belin, an ophthalmologist from Albany, N.Y., traveled to East Timor in late June as part of the East Timor Eye Program founded by Dr. Nitin Verma of Tasmania. During their trip, Zloty and Belin performed the country’s first corneal transplants.
Once under Portugal rule, the small country of East Timor is part of the Indonesian archipelago in Southeast Asia and north of Australia. Before it was nearly destroyed by conflict, its infrastructure was best known for sandalwood. The people of East Timor face lingering challenges from the country’s struggle to gain independence, which it finally did in 2002.
“They didn’t have anyone doing eye surgeries there for years during all their trouble,” Zloty said.
Corneal blindness is common in young adults and children due to the number of infections in East Timor, Zloty said.
Some of the patients Zloty saw were too far gone, but there were three patients — ranging in age from 24 to 30 — who could be helped. Corneas were provided by the Alabama Eye Bank, which partially supported the mission trip. Support for the trip also came from the Albany, N.Y., Lions Eye Bank, North Eastern New York Sight and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Zloty and Belin, who performed cataract and other eye surgeries while in East Timor, plan a second trip later this year to provide corneal care and train local doctors to better treat corneal disease.
“With corneal transplants, they can see,” Zloty said of East Timor patients.
Most of the medical staff they encountered in East Timor were glad the doctors were there.
“It was refreshing to see how they appreciated us,” Zloty said. “ ... It was very rewarding to do so much good in so little time.”
The experience, he said, put life in the United States in perspective.
“We are blessed,” Zloty said.
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