It was the evening of February 13. The bi-monthly meeting of the Manilla Christian Men’s Club had been listening to Tamworth ophthalmologist, David Moore as he recounted the amazing story of his partnership with an Indian eye surgeon.
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Dr Kumar had pioneered a simple way of performing cataract operations and he and his team were giving sight to thousands of people in the poorest parts of India.
Not only that, but everywhere Dr Kumar went he set up churches and schools so that new sight could be accompanied by new hope.
When it came to question time, somebody asked, “What’s it like to have a cataract operation?”
“Would you like to see?” says David and he touches a button on his laptop.
There, on the screen, an eye is being slit. Then the old, murky lens is sucked away and a new one is put in its place. The whole thing takes 90 seconds.
Last week, Tamworth Town Hall was the venue for the annual Eye-Openers fundraiser. For 10 years, Tamworth has been supporting the work of Dr Kumar in Andra Pradesh.
It was a night of Indian fun. Many wore Indian dress. There were artworks for sale, Indian dancing, an Indian meal. Everyone was hanging out for the iconic event.
The drum strikes up and in prances the very proper Indian auctioneer, Mahatma Coat, aka Mitch Wilson.
The charismatic Indian charm works its magic and $200 changes hands for a jar of honey, $150 for a 6-pack of Kingfisher beer. In the end, $16,000 has been raised.
This time, the cause is not more cataracts, but a new project to finance five study centres to enable Dalit students to get a new start in life.