I know I have been neglecting our blog lately and have not been able to share with you what’s going on at Claudia K as much as I would have liked. The truth is, I am currently away from the practice and spending some time with the Fred Hollows Foundation and Fonaroman Timor Leste in Dili. I feel very privileged to be here today, because today was a very (and I mean VERY) big day for the team: the celebration of the inauguration of the temporary operating theatre and eye clinic in a converted container donated by the New Zealand Armed Services. ... read more

This will be my third trip to Timor Leste. I am currently sitting here at Sydney Airport waiting for my flight to Darwin and then on to Dili. It’s always a long trip, almost as long as going halfway around the world. I started this morning on a 7.00am flight from Nelson to Auckland where I had the pleasure of meeting the Fred Hollows New Zealand team. Planned arrival in Dili is 7.15am tomorrow morning.
The Fred Hollows Foundation has been very active in East Timor for the past 5 years or so and have been instrumental in helping the local NGO FoNaroman Timor Leste (Giving Sight Timor Leste) in providing basic eyecare to the people of Timor. Can’t wait to meet the team again and to spend the next 2 weeks with the optical team in Dili. ... read more

Firstly, apologogies for not maintaining the blog on a regular basis over the past 3 weeks. I’ve been away and where I went, internet access has been a bit patchy at best. Anyway, now that I am back in good old Motueka, it is time to catch up and share some some of the interesting things that happened over the past 3 weeks. Last year I got involved with the Fred Hollows Foundation and have been doing a bit of work over in Timor-Leste (East Timor). For me this was a wonderful experience and I was able to share some of my knowledge and expertise by teaching young Timorese students the technical and dispensing skills required to manufacture and dispense custom made glasses. ... read more