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		<title><![CDATA[Craig Cameron Saving Sight in Peru]]></title>
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Trip a success - Local optometrist back from sight saving mission to Peru&#13;
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STORY: STUART CARLESS&#13;
Milton Ulladulla Times&#13;
09 Jun, 2010 10:51 AM&#13;
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ULLADULLA optometrist Craig Cameron is continuing his efforts to bring sight to people around the world - no matter where they live. &#13;
Mr Cameron recently travelled to Peru with a specialist team of doctors and nurses, most of them from the Nowra region, in a bid to change the lives of disadvantaged people living in the Colca Valley.&#13;
The trip is being heralded a success with members of the team consulting with more than 350 people over the space of a few days.&#13;
Mr Cameron, from Cameron's Optometry, has previously travelled to East Timor but said the trip to Peru was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.&#13;
He told the Times last week that he had returned home feeling "good" but said the enormity of the problem had really hit home.&#13;
He said the work performed in Peru was just a "drop in the ocean" in terms of what was needed to alleviate treatable eye problems such as cataracts.&#13;
Mr Cameron learnt about the trip through a friend, Nowra orthopaedic surgeon and president of the Australian Alpaca Association, Dr Ian Davison, and had been keen to get involved from the start.&#13;
The team set up base in a town of approximately 5000 people, Chivay, and immediately went to work cleaning a space in the local hospital to assess patients and operate on them.&#13;
The team arrived on a Tuesday morning and started seeing patients the same day, continuing their efforts on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday before taking the Monday morning off.&#13;
It was back to work on Monday afternoon before another well-earned break on Tuesday.&#13;
The team saw more patients on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning before packing up in readiness for their departure.&#13;
Mr Cameron said the team conducted more than 50 cataract operations as well as some other minor eye operations.&#13;
He said people from the region were prone to cataracts because of the high level of ultra-violet light at high altitudes (3600 metres above sea level).&#13;
Many of them had virtually no sight.&#13;
One woman was able to see her grand children for the first time in seven years after having cataract surgery.&#13;
Mr Cameron said it had been deemed unnecessary to operate on some people and they had been presented with glasses instead.&#13;
Even this, he said, was enough to enable some people to continue working.&#13;
Mr Cameron said he had enjoyed his time in Peru immensely but described the altitude as "challenging".&#13;
He believes the team was very successful in establishing a level of trust with the locals and is confident the long-term outcomes arising out of the mission will be very good.&#13;
He described the Peruvian landscape as "unbelievable" and said one of the highlights of the trip was a trip to the Cola Canyon to watch condors - sacred to the Peruvian people - riding thermals.&#13;
He said the sight of the birds was "phenomenal" and "absolutely magic".&#13;
The Insight Peru mission was an initiative of the Australian Alpaca Association in partnership with Quechua Benefit and with the support of Ramsay Health Care.&#13;
The group was praised by the Ambassador of Peru, His Excellency Caudio de la Puente.&#13;
"Your contribution, enthusiasm and generosity in providing your precious time and resources to help restore the gift of sight to the needy people of the Peruvian Altiplano constitutes a most meaningful and effective initiative and a gift that will not be forgotten," he said.&#13;
Mr Cameron is now preparing for another trip to East Timor in August.&#13;
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News article can be found at:http://www.ulladullatimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/trip-a-success-local-optometrist-back-from-sight-saving-mission-to-peru/1853779.aspx?storypage=0&#13;
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