Several eye surgeons have joined The Luke Commission in Eswatini for short, intense sessions, performing cataract surgeries with the TLC medical team.
We appreciate and thank each of these volunteer doctors – those still to come and many to return.
Dr. Jake Bostrom of Greenville, South Carolina, capsulized his time in Eswatini, saying: “This week will keep be going the rest of the year.”
Why? “Three years ago, I decided I want to help more people who couldn’t get help on their own. But when I came here, I didn’t realize I would be the one served.”
Dr. Jake told TLC staff of 150-plus the morning he left: “I’m coming back. For me, it’s for Jesus.”
In five days, 126 surgeries were performed, 31 in one day alone. “I’ve never done 31 surgeries in one day,” he exclaimed. “When Echo suggested on the telephone that we might do 125 surgeries in a week, I thought ‘sure, sure’! Now I know it can be done. The TLC medical team was great.”
Many elderly Emaswati came to the Miracle Campus never expecting to see well again. “Most of these surgeries should have been done eight or nine years ago,” noted Dr. Jake. “They were difficult.”
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| Dr. Jake watches a patient see afar, see the glorious Eswatini landscape, for the first time in years. |
But, oh, the joy when patches were removed the day after the “wash,” as Emaswati call the procedure. People saw. They laughed, sang, danced, with eyes aglow. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dr. Jake.
Never-seen-anything-like-it moments would not be possible without faithful donors, partners, and staff. Thank you for giving to the young and the old, those often forgotten in the rural areas where most Emaswati live.
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| Patients may not speak the same language as Dr. Jake, but their gratitude and joy unspeakable is expressed, nonetheless. |
by Janet Tuinstra
