Dear friends of Eyecare;

We just arrived back in the US after a long journey with a couple of ‘hiccups’ in the schedule. Ethiopian Airlines informed us when we reached Addis Abiba that our flight to Atlanta, Georgia had been cancelled. They rerouted us to Washington DC, and fortunately, we were able to catch another flight to Atlanta a few hours later.

During our last week in Bulawayo, Steve saw patients in consultation, gave lectures, and performed a plastic surgical procedure on a man who had a disfiguring scar on his face and eyes. He had suffered with an extensive cancer on his nose and mid-face. The ENT doctors had removed it, performed rotational flaps, but left him with his left eye unable to close from post-operative scarring. Steve did a lid-tightening procedure along with a skin graft, and pictures taken s week later by Dr. Sibanda, the doctor assisting him showed full lid closure. Steve was able to teach this difficult operation to Dr. Sibanda who now has this skill.

Steve and Jane took two days at the end of this trip to enjoy some game viewing at Hwange National Park. They saw lion, elephants, cape buffalo, and lastly, an incredible sighting of a leopard that Jane had spotted in some long grass.

As we look back on our time in Zimbabwe, we thank God for so much that he enabled us to achieve. We launched the surgical retina training program, and we had our first US surgeon, Dr. Matthew West, to come and teach Dr. Moyo in this very difficult and specialized aspect of eye care. We were blessed to conduct an eye camp at the Zikhululeni district out from Bulawayo with folks from Bulawayo Baptist church. A new church plant was established through the ministries in that community.

We look forward to our return in July. We have several doctors who are considering joining us in the retina training program as we continue to impart new skills to our Zimbabwe colleagues. Thank you so much again for your prayers and support as we continue on this journey to help those in great need in Zimbabwe.

Steve and Jane Beaty