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work in the fields, or even take care of the are planning to give up using their equip-
grandchildren. ment. We are trying to set up a kind of sub-
group to deal with this. We are renting a
Q; Do we really understand how important small box where we keep this second-hand
cataracts and other eye ailments can be? equipment, and then we put everything into
Cataracts are the first cause of blindness and a container for shipping. We always make
represent 40 percent of all the cases in de- sure, before sending off this equipment, that
veloping countries. In France, this ailment the receiver will use it well, that it’s a seri-
represents only 3 to 4 percent, because it is ous undertaking. There is always a risk of
diagnosed much earlier, when it can be eas- corruption, and we do not want this thing
ily treated. In France there are other pathol- to happen.
ogies, more serious ones, such as glaucoma,
which represent a lower percentage in the For instance, we always go to a place on an
field, as people afflicted with them have investigative mission to see if it is reliable
shorter life expectancy. and if the “funds” we are going to “invest”
are going to make a difference. Usually, we
Q: Going back to your association, how do go two or three at the same time to study
you finance your activities? the conditions on the ground. We look into
Basically, the association functions with all imaginable details. Each time, we do the
donations. It was set up in 2017, and now ground work thoroughly because the foun-
we are about twenty ophthalmologists and dations have to be solid.
surgeons and a person working in the Red
Cross. He is helping us with administra- We have worked quite a lot in Morocco
tive issues. We are all volunteers; nobody where we have brought with us our exper-
receives any kind of remuneration. From tise and taught technical subjects. We go
time to time, ophthalmologists going into to the Comoros, where there are several is-
retirement donate their equipment, and we lands. We try to have somebody on each of
pass it on. We are always interested in get- the three islands, and we try to go there on
ting in touch with ophthalmologists who a regular basis to do the follow-up. We are

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