Recently we told you about Goskirk Pettinger supporting a global sight-saving charity. In April 2025 Dr Joel Somerville travelled to Madagascar to conduct screening for cataract surgery with Mercy Ships.
In our last blog post, Dr Somerville was flying across country to the town of Maintirano to conduct screening for cataract and pterygium surgery.
Maintirano is a town on Madagascar's West coast, a little smaller than Inverness, and where around half of the population make a subsistence living from fishing. For much of the year it is inaccessible by road and so we landed on a small, dirt airstrip and brought our equipment to the local hospital. It is incredibly poor but we receive an exceptionally warm welcome to this beautiful spot.
My consulting room had no windows, no electricity and the hospital had no working toilet. I spent time trying to keep the pigs and geese away but I spent 2 very enjoyable and very hot days testing eyes for cataract surgery that would take place on board the ship later in the year. We scheduled 17 surgeries.
My favourite question to ask the older patients is "if we can remove these cataracts and make you see again, what would you like to do?" Seeing eyes light up with the possibility of restoring sight is amazing. An old man in Maintirano told me he would have a biiiig party, and danced his way out of my room with the help of his grandchild.
In the evenings there is little to do here but watch stars, listen to the sound of the frogs and visit the beautiful beach to watch the daily catch arrive.
Next we will be flying to the town of Morondava.
