Egham student to join flying eye hospital

Apr 21 2009 By Russell Butt

A teenager hopes to open her eyes to new cultures on a life-changing trip to try and save the eyesight of others.

Sasha Vohlidkova, a 17-year-old student at ACS Egham international school, has been short listed from a group of students to be one of three ACS students to take part in a mission to provide sight saving operations in Jaipur, India.

Later this year, Sasha, from Sunningdale, and her two colleagues will join professional opthalmologists for a 10-day trip aboard the world's only flying eye hospital - a converted DC-10 airliner, which now a mobile teaching hospital.

The trip has been organised through non-profit organisation, ORBIS, who work to try and eliminate avoidable blindness in developing countries by transferring sight-saving operational skills to local medical professionals.

International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB), Sasha, was short listed through a rigorous selection process from a group of more than 20 applicants and during her trip she will work alongside ORBIS's international medical team to help by observing the surgery, offering post-operative support and getting first hand experience of the difference the ORBIS volunteer medical staff make to people's lives.

"I hope the ORBIS internship will be a starting point for me and not just a unique opportunity. I hope I will be able to go on and build on what I have learned from it both in terms of international cooperation and improvement of individual lives through medicine.

"I am looking forward to the ten days spent in Jaipur, both because of what I can offer and I am expecting some rather substantial paradigm shifts as other than ACS I have not experienced much cultural diversity."

Superintendent of ACS International Schools, Malcolm Kay, said that students who take part in the ORBIS programme often describe it as ‘life-changing’, and their career paths have altered as a result of participating.

He added: “The internship teaches young people to be open-minded and appreciative of their own culture and the perspectives, values, and traditions of other communities.

"They learn to approach unfamiliar situations with courage and forethought, take risks and show empathy, compassion and respect and to learn from others.