We are thrilled to announce that we have broken ground on our latest eye hospital project, this time in Mocuba, Mozambique.
The hospital, which is slated to open in late 2021, will include six eye exam rooms, two operating rooms, four hospital rooms with beds for patients from out of town, an optical shop, a pharmacy, and more. The two story building will have 5,600 feet of total space.
Spearheading the project is Dr. Isac Da Gama. Dr. Da Gama received his medical degree in 2010 from Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique and trained as an ophthalmologist at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Tanzania. He then went to the world famous Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India where he did a one year fellowship in pediatric ophthalmology. Aravind, with its mission to "eliminate needless blindness" has long been a model for delivering affordable eye care to large numbers of patients in a sustainable fashion. It was there that Dr. Da Gama was inspired to return to Mozambique and dedicate his life to helping those with no access to eye care.
Mocuba is the economic capital of Zambezia province of Mozambique. The town itself has 250,000 inhabitants, but Zambezia province, which has only three eye surgeons, has a population of 5 million. The new hospital will attract patients from all over central Mozambique as well as Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Click here for a cool aerial view of Mocuba.
This project is based on the same social entrepreneurial model that has been so successful at our earlier project in Kisii, Kenya. It will be a for profit hospital with a commitment to provide sustainable eye care to all patients, regardless of ability to pay. As in Kisii, the hospital will strive to become financially self sufficient, relying on paying patients to subsidize free services for those unable to pay for their care.
Of course none of this would have been possible without the generosity of our donors. It is good to know that in these trying times, we can come together to build something that will make the world a better place.