John made another trip to PNG last month to help support PNG Eye Care, a Not-for-profit organisation he helped set up 15 years ago.

“PNG Eye Care provides low costs spectacles to people who attend the Port Moresby Hospital eye clinic as well as sending spectacles to a number of other hospitals and eye care providers around PNG” John said. “After initially being reliant of funding support from Australia, it has been pleasing that PNG Eye Care has been running self-sufficient without any external funding or sponsorship for the past few years”.

One important benefit from this visit was the repair of a lens edging machine that had stopped working a few months again.  John was able to take up the two replacement parts it needed together with instructions from the service personnel in Australia on how to change over the parts. He and the PNG staff were very pleased to have it working again.

While in PNG John also attended the September meeting of the National Prevention of Blindness committee. John has a key role in this committee that coordinated eye care development in PNG. He expects to return to PNG in March next year.