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Voyages of Captain Cook of Madurai – (1996 – 2015)
Prof. V. Srinivasan, Professor of Physics
and NCC Officer, highest rank held – Captain,
The American College, Madurai (Retired)
Consultant, Instruments Department, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai
14/52 Vijay Vilas, G B Road, Thane West 400615, Mobile: 9819595097
Retired at the age of 58 after full service of 35 years (1959-94) at American College, to keep me busy and occupies retired life, decided to use my interest and expertise in repairing instruments and joined Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai in 1995. With the encouragement of a Dr. G. Venkatasamy, well-known Ophthalmologist who had himself created an eye hospital (Aravind) after his full service and retirement from Government service. Encouraged by him took some training in a leading eye hospital (L V Prasad) in Hyderabad and an eye care instrument sales and service organization (Carl Zeiss) in Mumbai and created a training programme for training technicians of eye hospitals all over the globe under the umbrella of LAICO, a wing of Aravind. The training commenced in the year 1996 with four trainees (one each from Bangalore Raipur, Bangalore and Madurai). Well begun is half done the course became an instant success and the second course had a trainee from Nigeria. It was four courses in a year. With demand it was increased to six courses in a year and by the end of 2012 the total number of trainees trained was 458 and they were from 47 countries in five continents as shown in the world map
Besides this there were invitations from many countries to run similar courses in their countries - Paraguay (South America), Jamaica (West Indies), Cameroon, Nigeria, Ethiopia (twice), Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea, Egypt (all in Africa), Bangladesh and Vietnam (twice). Besides this I was invited to present papers on outcome of the courses at international conferences held in Sydney, Australia, Jakarta, Indonesia, Durban (South America), Dubai (UAE) and London (UK).
In 2012 the IAPB (International Agency for Prevention of Blindness associated with WHO honoured as "Eye Health Hero" at their Ninth General Assembly Sessions held in Hyderabad.
Because of my age I took my second retirement in 2013. A successor for me could not be located immediately. In 2014 I was asked to lead the Madurai team for their second trip to Kenya and also on a trip to Mongolia to run courses there. Then Mr. K S Rajkumar, one of my students and colleague at American College, joined at my request to carry on the activity. He had invited me to the graduation day of the 100th course was held during his tenure in 2015. However, the nature snatched him away from us. It was a sudden death. Then I was able to persuade Prof. N. Manickam also my student and colleague at American College joined to carry on the activity.
The first voyage: The first overseas course was held at National Eye Centre, Kaduna, Nigeria, a 30 days program, Sept – Oct 2000, trainees were from Nigeria, Ghana and The Gambia, three trainers trained in Madurai earlier were instructors. I and Poornachandran were resource persons - Sponsored by Sight Savers International, London. Photos: session of repair of surgical instruments the group
The second voyage was to Sydney Australia. I was invited an invited speaker to present a paper on the instrument maintenance courses I have been running in Madurai and the one in Nigeria described yesterday. It was at the XXIX International Congress of Ophthalmology (ICO) held in April 2002 attended by delegates from all over the world. My participation was supported by Sight Savers International, London who had sponsored and witnessed the course held in Nigeria
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The third voyage was to Hanoi, Vietnam. One engineer and two doctors of that country had come to Madurai for twelve-week training. That was followed by a seven-week course run at National Institute of Ophthalmology, Hanoi. I and two trainers, Poornachandan and Saravanan (now working for an Ophthalmic instrument company), were involved in running a course for seven weeks for technicians of Vietnam Eye Hospitals in Feb-Mar 2004. Programme sponsored by Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM) Germany. We had the service of local translators for side by side translation for making the course effective. That was an experience by itself. A bonus was a visit to Ho Chi Min mausoleum. A high light was the dinner hosted by the Minister of Health of Vietnam Government (an ophthalmologist himself) in honour of our visit.
The fourth voyage in Sept 2004 to participate in the 7th General Assembly of the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) in Dubai to present a paper on the instruments maintenance courses I had run in Madurai, Nigeria and Hanoi. Sponsored by the India office of Sight Savers International (Delhi office), a Non-Government Organization (NGO) involved in eye care work. The attached picture was taken Dubai International airport where I got my first digital camera. Dr. BalaKrishan of Aurolab was with me on that trip. The brief case that has been with me in all my voyages is on the table displaying the IAPB slogan 2020 Right to Sight
The fifth voyage was to Kikuyu, Kenya to run a five-week programme in Feb-Mar 2005. The participants were from Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Cameroon and Nigeria. The programme was sponsored by a NGO (non-government organization) Light for the World, Austria while some of the trainees were supported by Sight Savers International, Kenya office. Poornachandran and Sridharan accompanied me and two technicians of Kikuyu trained earlier in Madurai served as instructors. The hospital was a church supported and the training each day began with a prayer by the Chaplain of the hospital. For me who had spent 35 years in The American College, Madurai that experience was very natural. The course included a one-week camp in another hospital in Kenya. A very encouraging feature for of that camp was the trainees present for the work on all days well before the hospital was opened for work on those days (see the picture). A bonus for me and Poornachandran during the trip was a weekend safari in one of the national wild life parks of Kenya. A heard of rhinos in open was the main attraction
The sixth voyage was to Kingston Jamaica West Indies in April 2005, invited by Orbis International, USA, well known for their flying eye hospital. The participants were many countries of Caribbean Islands. The different organization involved in running the programme is shown in the slide given below. The first version of the instruments maintenance video tape produced by my team at Aravind was used there for the first time.
The seventh voyage was to Bangladesh to run a one-week program at Chittagong Eye Infirmary and training center in September 2005. Seven technicians from all over Bangladesh sponsored by BNSB (Bangladesh National Society for Blind) attended. Poornachandran and a technician already trained in Madurai were assisting me
The eighth voyage was in Oct 2005 to Hanoi, Vietnam (second trip) to work with the team of local technicians trained by me. A second course there. Sponsored by CBM (Chtistoffel Blinden Mission), Germany.
The ninth voyage was to London, UK. Within ten years (1997 - 2006) the courses had become well known and I was made a member of the technology working group of IAPB (International Agency for Prevention of Blindness) and was invited to participate in the meeting of that working group in London, England in June 2006. The voyage was sponsored by Sight Savers International, London. What interested me most was the meeting was in a building that was the London home of (Raja) Ram Mohan Rai, great social reformer of India, (you may use a hand magnifier to read the tablet in the picture). The other picture is of a museum of instrument in Oxford University campus I visited during that voyage
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The tenth voyage was in July 2006 to Ethiopia and Uganda sponsored by Orbis International, a USA based organization involved in eye care work all over the world. The organization has a flying (air plane) eye hospital with full-fledged diagnostic and surgical facilities on board together with lecture hall and library facilities for training where ever the plane landed. My team was invited to join them for their work in a hospital in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia followed by a programme in a training centre in Kampala, Uganda. A picture of an ophthalmologist looking at a Slit lamp brought back to use during the course.
A memorable event for me during that voyage was I was allowed to travel in the cabin of the Orbis plane between Addis Ababa and Kampala a very rare experience of life time. Poornachandran was with me. While we were able to give hands on training and could bring back to working condition many instruments during the training at Addis Abba it was just a lecture demonstration type training at Uganda because of lack of proper communication. The hosts had collected more than 40 trainees for training by just two of us and two trainers of that country earlier trained by us in Madurai. A very satisfying news for us at Uganda was of the three technicians trained earlier by us in Madurai one had migrated to work in an Eye hospital in England. A pat on our back. As a country England may not send one for training in Madurai
The eleventh voyage was in Sept 2007 back to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia sponsored by Orbis International like the earlier voyage. We were told the Ethiopian administration was so impressed by our earlier performance that they wanted to get more technicians trained for longer duration. Poornachandran and one technician of Orbis were with me. It was during this course I could establish my "Instrument repaired is Instrument gained" slogan. On the first day when I and Mr. Ismail Cordero of Orbis were walking towards the venue we noticed an operation table dumped in an open garbage pit of the hospital. I took time to get near the pit to examine the manufacturer's tag on the table and said I can fit it. Many thought it may not happen. After all our planned work for the course was over, towards the end of the programme we got it out of the pit. Fortunately for us there was heavy rain the previous night and pulling it out of the pit and
washing it were easy. With about eight trainees working it was fixed before the end of the day. An assistant of the theatre had preserved the upholstery and with that mounted on the table it was sent back to the theatre for their cleaning and we were told the ophthalmologist used the table the very next day and had remarked "my favourite table". This work was published in London, UK based COMMUNITY EYE HEALTH JOURNAL | VOL 22 ISSUE 70 | JUNE 2009
The twelfth voyage was to Durban, South Africa in May 2007 to participate in a meeting of the Technology Working group of IAPB (International Agency for Prevention of Blindness). Sponsored by Sight Savers International. At the conference I had an opportunity to fix a minor fault in the lap top of Dr. Para Rajasegaram associated with WHO (picture attached) A bonus during the trip was a visit the historic railway station in Durban that had caused the entry of Mahatma Gandhi's fight against the British
My thirteenth voyage was to Cairo, Egypt, for three weeks in July-Aug 2008 to run two programs one for technicians and the other for ophthalmologists sponsored by Dr Alnoor Magrabi Hospital. An experience I can never forget is Dr. Magrabi, the head of a large chain of eye hospitals in North Africa, himself had come to the door of his office to open it for me when I reached his office. In the hospital we had at our disposal a closed-circuit television system for our use. We put that into use to demonstrate minute procedures on a TV screen that many could observe magnified at the same time. Normally the procedure is explained to technicians using a microscope with a side scope with trainees queuing to watch one at a time delicate procedure like sharpening and repairing surgical instruments through the side scope. The bonuses during the trip were many: an evening cruise in river Nile, visit to the great pyramids, museums, historic churches making the best use of two Sundays accompanied by professional tourist guides. Poornachandran and Seker had accompanied me
My fourteenth voyage was to Mbingo, Cameroon in a Baptist Mission Hospital there in March 2009. Cameroon is a west African country with mixed population of French (Francophone, Majority) and English (Anglophone, minority) people. The course was sponsored by GTZ, a German Government International aid agency. We had earlier trained trainers from Cameroon in our Pondicherry hospital, taking advantage of a French speaking persons in that hospital, and had prepared teaching prepared with the help of helped by Ms Isabelle of Light for the World, a French organization involved in eye care work. It was a great success (our first bilingual course). During the course all lectures and explanations had simultaneous translation. Two highlights of the course were the minister of Health of the state was present for the concluding day of the course. The guest house of the hospital had assigned a cook specially for providing vegetarian food for me. Poornachandran accompanied me and all the trainers from Cameroon trained earlier in Pondicherry were also of help
My fifteenth voyage of four weeks was to Eritrea in the horn of Africa in March-April 2010. Where we ran two programs one in Asmara (Country's Capital) and another in Karan (a state capital. Poornachandran and Merlin Meena had accompanied me. This was the beginning of women technicians joining my voyages. The voyage was sponsored by Ministry of Health of the country and Australia based Fred Hallows Foundation well known in eye care activities in many countries. A visit to a church in Asmara and the church bell (a stone boulder) that produced metallic bell tones when struck with another stone or wooden mallet were the attraction
My sixteenth voyage was to participate in the first global forum on Medical Devices organized WHO (World Health Organization) in Bangkok, Thailand in Sept 2010. My trip was sponsored WHO. I presented a poster (world map) with statistics on the various instrument maintenance courses conducted by Aravind team and also I was asked to give a talk on the courses I have been running. Dr. Balakrishnan of Aurolab participated in the events
My seventeenth voyage was to Moshi, Tanzania in July 2011, to run a four-week course at Kilimanjaro Canter of Community Ophthalmology sponsored by IAPB (International Agency for Prevention of Blindness) USA. Participants were from, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Zambia, Zanzibar and Madagascar. Poornachandran and Gowthaman had accompanied me.
My eighteenth voyage the longest one was to Asuncion, Paraguay in South America,in July 2012, sponsored by IAPB Latin America. Technicians from Paraguay, Honduras, Mexico, Bolivia and Honduras participated. The course was run in Spanish medium. As a preparation two of the technicians from Paraguay were trained in Madurai. With their help and with the help of one of friends in this field Mr. Ismael Cordero we had prepared a Spanish version of our Instruments manual book, the necessary teaching material including slides and video clips. Simultaneous translation was adopted where necessary. Poornachandran and Ganga accompanied me on this voyage. Bonuses during the voyages were a visit to the largest hydroelectric project in Paraguay that supplies all the electricity requirements of Paraguay and shares the surplus with its neighbouring country. A visit to Iguazu falls at the border of Argentina and Parana of Brazil was an added bonus
After all these I took a second retirement and migrated with my wife to Thane (Mumbai) to be with my son and his family on our old age. However since a suitable leader had not joined the department I was requested to join the Aravind team on two more voyages. , My nineteen the voyage was to Kisumu in Kenya to run a course sponsored by Fred Hallows for the technicians of the Government run hospitals in Kenya in May 2014.
significant event in that course was fixing a computer operated A B-scan machine donated to a hospital in Homa Bay by Fred Hollows. It remained unused for want of the correct software was installed. This was discovered by Ms Kasthuri and we contacted the supplier in USA over internet and downloaded the correct software and made the instrument work as it should. The bonus for all of us during the voyage was crossing the equator near Kisumu. It seems that crossing the equator is an important in the service of a sailor. It is celebrated on board the ship. We thought we would also celebrate it like wise. How does one know they are crossing the equator? A simple Physics experiment described in annexure published in Bulletin IAPT (Indian Association of Physics Teachers) (Annexure I). My twentieth voyage was to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia in July 2014 as a part of Orbis Eye Hospital team. The programme was in the local language and we were provided simultaneous translation facility. The most significane work during the course was bringing back to work a Zeiss Operating microscope while teaching the technicians on maintenance of Operating microscopes. It seems that the microscope had remained unused for some years. The surgeon of the hospital was happy the instrument will be available for him as a result. While it was a pleasure travelling and visiting different countries and meeting different people of different culture and habits the greater joy was in teaching technicians how to maintain their instrument and the greatest joy was in bringing back to use many instruments back to use.
INSTRUMENT REPAIRED IS INSTRUMENT GAINED
