Vision
CA3 – Latin America
HELPING TO SAVE EYES IN A BROKEN COUNTRY
My name is Georges Frantz Large.
The son of a Haitian ophtalmologist, who among other things worked along with Ramon Castroviejo in Sainte Claire NY , I am myself a Haitian ophtalmologist, who, after the completion of his medical training in the State University of Haiti, did some post graduate training in Lincoln Hospital NY, Georgetown University Hospital Washington DC, Siwof Low Vision center in Denvil NJ and Hilton Roche ophtalmology center in Bello Horizonte, Brazil
Along side with my medical career, I own a master in Art History, through my study in NYU and l Institut francais d Haiti, and I am also a member of the International Art critic Association
I have delivered numerous lectures on Haitian art and Vodoo around the World ( among them the Dallas museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of art ) on haitian art, and organized the sale of art paintings, the benefit of which would go to Lions Eye care program in Haiti
I have been married for 30 years, with 2 sons and a grand son, and make a living out of my practice in Port au Prince Haiti
I have been for 10 years the president of the Haitian Society of Ophtalmology ( 2 elected mandates ) and a member of the board of the Pan-American association of ophtalmology
Since my affiliation to the Lions, I have been involved in Eye Care specifically aimed at the most vulnerable part of our population
In that regard , i was able,as president of the Health commission of the Lions club, to help with organizing one of the most extensive surgical mission of the Lions , where over a hundred surgeries were performed on adults, and, for the first time in Haitian hisfory, strabismus surgery was performed on a large scale on children
The scope of this presentation does not allow for a description of the many accomplishments of the Lions in the field of blindness prevention in Haiti but I want to concentrate on the problematic of eye care in the huge areas of my country where it is not available , and my modest contribution in dealing with that issue
In Haiti we have about 50 pphtalmologists , the vast majority of them working in Pap and a estimate of 12 working in the two other main towns, namely Cap Haitian and les Cayes
The rest of the countryside is devoid of any permanent ophtalmologist presence
Hence Eye care in Haiti is a real issue
Besides the lack of avainable eye care, 3 other problems plague the Haitian People
The number one problem is poverty- not poverty as we understand it in the US , Real poverty- most people live on a 2 dollars a day budget
The number 2 problem is ( most of the time ) the huge distance to travel
The number 3 problem, probably the worst, is insecurity
As I am writing these lines , I am in a small bus ( they call them Yas don’t ask me why this name) which is scheduled to drive through roads infested with ruffians, and there is no guarantee that they will content themselves with their usual tax and do not resort to their day to day practice of kidnapping
I remember that one day my car was blocked at the entrance of Petite Riviere de l Artibonite when some of those who blocked, us identified me and provided the car with an escort to the hospital, since they had relatives waiting for my care
I can only pray and hope things will go as smoothly this time
To tell the truth, the process of traveling to those distant eye center is not a funny one
It is long , painful, full with anguish
First you must take a motorcycle to make it to the bus station
Why a motorcycle? Simply because you would not make it with a car
Betwwen the traffic and the overall possibility of a sudden road block ( by burned tires invthe best scenario) , it is the only realistic way to make such a travel
As one can expect, motorcycles are not
absolutely safe
Personnally I have been victim of three accidents since I’ve been using them ( fortunately getting away with just wounds )
Why a bus station ?
I forgot to mention it, but a couple of weeks after my adventure in Petite Riviere de l Artibonite, the situation became such that traveling outside of Port au Prince with your own car happened to be suicidal ( unless being yourself part of a gang )
The bus driver have their way to deal with the gangsters ( yet there is no guarantee that it will work all the time )
The regular time for travel varies between 10 to 12 hours on a bumpy road, crossing rivers while praying the Yas will make it to the border , inside a vehicle where passengers are packed like in a sardines can
( by the time I am writing these lines, the bus driver has just shouted that we must immediately turn off our cell phones since we are entering gang territoire and that those guys are quite nervous about the possibilities of being photographed or denounced….hopefully we ll resume our storyline )
Yes…everything went well. The ” Yas” parked in the middle of gunmen, one of them approached in a somnolent walk with I don’t know what pending on his mouth ( oh Lord let him not look inside the bus, thank you Lord he was too stunned for that ) after a few words exchange between him and the driver , got his bill and let us go our way
Well, to resume my story, 10 to 12 hours is the travel time when everything goes well-quite a rare situation
I have had to sleep in the bushes since we got caught by night and gangsters were signaled around
Sleep is an euphemism: you are dealing with insect bites and the scare of gangsters
Another time it was because of the impossibility to cross a flooding river (Somtimes you much cross the river bare feed with your luggage over your head…rest assured there is nothing romantic about it )
Sometimes it is because the bus hit a rock …or another bus , or any other reason
Once you make it to your destination you need another motorcycle to reach the hospital where work is planned
People keep asking me the same question that I am also asking myself: why in H,,,do you go through that?
The answer hits me as I show in the waiting room of the consultations place: ” li vini ” he came he did it ! Everyone screaming the same thing….this sound does not come from the mouths, it comes from the guts
And then I’m thinking of another scenario: the scenario of common sense
I have listened to the wise voices who explain that what I am doing makes no sense, that once dead I will be useless, and so and so
Following this scenario, I have chosen to remain in Port au Prince, working hard on making a living, and then
Then you have all those people from Boucan Richard from Pendu from Riviere Moncelle from Savane Carree from riviere Blanche from l Acul from Moulin from Ravine Gros Morne who have been undertaking this long journey to make it to the main place of Gros Morne where hôpital Alma Mater ( the place where I work) is located
They came because they are in pain
They would have been waiting for hours
And then ….the news : the doctor will not make it
Which means that they will have to go all the way back
With their pain
Be blessed the Lord this is not the case
Here I am and ready to start a long day
Typically, while assistants are fixing everything, I would do some speech on eye care prevention
Then I would switch to seeing patients ( typically 80 a day ) sometimes with the help of Lions and Leos, in areas where such clubs exist
As to glasses, I can resort to those donated by Lions Clubs and Food for the Poor
It is good to have those glasses, as they enable me , among other things, to comply with the needs of those children screened by nurses , lions or leos and referred to me thereafter
AS to medication, it is more complicated
Donation has been scarce over the last months, likely due to the political situation, and drops are expensive, ( particularly those badly needed like those for glaucoma)
Decisions are always heart rending
Sometimes I have no other choice than to give away a drug ( that I will have to pay myself ) but I know there is a limit to this generosity, since I am anything but a billionaire
With regard to cataract surgery, since there is no way to perform this procedure in the places where I go , I try to call the nearest center to negotiate the best price – while the best price is almost always too much
I always make a point to spend some time providing some basic training to one or two nurses : after I leave they have better be prepared to face some emergencies , to do the follow up as well as to keep up with the prevention program
The day would end ( usually at night ) with a few small surgery procedures since facilities for major surgery do not abound
After work, if it is not too late I would go to a local radio station for an interview on eye care, sometimes participate in a session of the Lions, then look for my favorite meal , the ” bouillon consonmin” a kind of soup with all kinds of things inside, and , finally do my prayers and get a good sleep
Well…sometimes, before that I have to accept the invitation of a local vodoo priest to attend a vodoo ceremony
Vodoo has nothing to do with witchcraft
It is basically for our population a way to manifest their desire for a better life and their communion with nature
Sometime the next day, if it is a sunday, I would, with the invitation of priests and ministers, do short stops at churches where I would deliver 5 minutes speeches on eye care
Then, everything good having an end, I would think about returning home
I am not delusional
What I am doing is a drop in an ocean of utter frustration and suffering
In order to go somehow further, I do need support
I NEED GLASSES a lot of glssses since I dispend a lot of them and my stock is nearing exhaustion I
I NEDD DROPS I NEED INSTRUMENTS
I need every ophtalmic instrument in order to equip the centers but one item I am striving for is a few fundoscopic caneras, since they will enable the nurse to communicate not only with me , but with my colleagues around the Planet
BUT OF COURSE WE NEED ALL KIND OF OPHTALMOLOGIC INSTRUMENTS IN ORDER TO EQUIP THE CLINICS
AND SURE WE ALSO NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT , since the finanncial burden in ferms of transport , housing , ( like helping the nurses going through their daily expenses far from their homes while they doing their training )
To anyone who is interested in helping this way,, I can make a detailed justification on how those funds will be used
On an academic standpoint such an instrument would be of tremendous value
And of course, we do welcome surgeons who could help with the huge need we have , as well as support for our eye surgeons, so as to enable us to offer this service at a more affordable price
That is as short term is concerned
On the medium and long term we need permanent eye care units all over my country
In the medium term they would be run by ophtalmic assistants ( one of them is already working in hospital Alma Marer Gros Morne, after a 6 month training provided by ORLO foundation
In the long range we need clinics run , ideally by an ophtalmologist and an optometrist with an OR , as well as at least one center in Haiti with all the subspecialties
This dream is not only a humanitarian one
Only with medical specialties all around Haiti can we have the possibility on a universal medical insurance , and with that , competitive salaries , and subsequent investment
Yes. Inasmuch as I desperately long for help, my most fervent prayer to the Almighty is that in a foreseeable future we do not have to depend on charity – that Haiti can attain an economic achievement so much deserved by the courage of her citizens
In the meantime i I will go on carrying the day to day fight against disease and despair
One day in Marmelade ( one of the towns where I work ) in the middle of a clinic , I heard screams
I stopped the consultations to find out what was going on….it was a case of acute glaucoma – one of those experiences you do not want in a lifetime
After a few minutes of IV mannitol, there were no more screams
As I was explaining the patient that he would need another procedure ( namely an iridotomy) to make sure he would not have to go throughsuch agony , he put his hand over me : may you be blessed, may your children be blessed and the children of your children
Another time ( it was in Gros Morne ) I again heard someone screaming
This time it was what you call absolute glaucoma. The eye has been lost to the point of no light perception , but the nerves are still there and it hurts. It heats awfully
After the retroorbital block with lidocain and ethanol, this old man would tell me : I have been in hell for weeks. You let me into Heaven
With your help less and less of those screams will resonate
Yes. May we use the little power we have to open to those in Hell the door of Heaven
So that their blessing- and therefore the blessing of the Lord – be extended to you, your children and the children of your children
Frantz Large MD
PS DONATIONS CAN BE MADE BY PAYING AT THIS SITE
IT BENEFITS FROM THE 501 C 3 EXEMPTION
AS TO DONATIONS IN MATERIALS PLEASE TRANSMIT ALL THE IRELEVANT NFORMATION SO THAT I CAN PROVIDE AN ADDRESS IN THE US WHERE THEY CAN BE SENT
I CAN BE CONTACTED THROUGH MY EMAIL ADDRESSES
frantzlarge@gmail.com
franzlarge@yahoo.fr ( please write to both addresses just in case )
I aldo have a WhatsApp number
509 37135081