It was the third time a team of doctors, nurses and optometrists from the Shoalhaven travelled to South America as part of the InSight Peru program, providing much needed medical services to the people of the region.

Joined by a colleague from the Mornington Peninsula, the team of 12 included ophthalmologist Dr Smita Agarwal, two optometrists, two GPs, a paediatrician, three theatre nurses, an anaesthetist, an interpreter, while Nowra orthopaedic surgeon Dr Ian Davison, who was instrumental in setting up the program with the Australian Alpaca Association, made the trek for the first time.

The full 2013 team comprised Dr Agarwal, Robert Rix, Mark de Souza, Shelley Clarke, Ian Davison, Craig Cameron, Tony Roccon, Fiona Martin, Linda Wright, Brooke Morrison, Jane-Marie Hicks and Stuart Randell.

The trips in 2010 and 2011 had already established the team’s reputation and this year they treated between 70-75 patients a day for six days and saw more than 600 patients during their visit.

Team leader, local GP Stuart Randell, who has assisted Dr Davison with orthopaedics for 20 years, said this year’s trip was just as rewarding as previous expeditions.

“Originally it was intended to provide cataract surgery services but with the addition of a paediatrician and a GP, the team’s capacity has expanded since the first visit three years ago,” Dr Randell said.

InSight Peru has been supported by Ramsay Health Care, the Nowra Private Hospital, and the Australian Alpaca Association, as well as the South Nowra Rotary Club, the Shoalhaven Medical Association, and numerous private donors since its inception in 2010. 

The team’s work in Peru is assisted by a local charitable organisation, Quechua Benefit, which provides invaluable logistical and administrative support. 

As it has done on previous visits, the team established an optometry clinic and set up an operating theatre in the Chivay Health Centre. 

Although rudimentary, the facilities enabled the screening of hundreds of locals – mostly subsistence farmers – and allowed Dr Agarwal to conduct cataract surgery. 

Unlike the experience in developed countries, where such surgery is usually performed to assist patients whose eyesight has begun to deteriorate, in Chivay, cataract surgery can quite literally restore sight to the blind. 

“The experience is life changing, and profoundly rewarding,” Dr Randell said.

Nowra based paediatrician Dr Mark de Souza and GP Dr Shelley Clarke ran clinics at the Casa Chapi orphanage just outside Chivay, as well as in the nearby villages of Yanquee and Achoma.

For further information or if you would like to support or donate funds to the InSight Peru program visit www.insightperu.org.