Inauguration of the Miriam Hyman Children's Eye Care Centre
Thursday 3rd July 2008
L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar Campus
Patia, Bhubaneswar 751 024
Orissa, India
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L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar. The MHCECC is on the ground floor to the right of the portico. |
Download the brochure for the MHCECC (.pdf)
The Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust (MHMT) is dedicated to supporting the new Miriam Hyman Children's Eye Care Centre (MHCECC) in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. Details on the MHCECC here
The MHCECC was inaugurated on Thursday 3rd July 2008. It exists within the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) whose Bhubaneswar campus (BLVPEI) was inaugurated on 3rd July, 2006.
For extensive information on LVPEI, visit their website: www.lvpei.org
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Report by Esther Hyman, July 2008
I had the opportunity, and therefore the privilege of representing Miriam's loved ones and the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust at the inauguration of the MHCECC on Thursday, 3rd July 2008.
My experiences in Bhubaneswar extended far beyond the inauguration itself. For the full itinerary (30th June to 5th July) click here
Thursday 03 July
10.00 Address to the entire BLVPEI staff giving background of the MHMT and our collaboration with LVPEI.
11.00 Discussion with key consultants about their paediatric ophthalmological subspecialities and plans for each subspeciality within the MHCECC.
12.30 Lunch at hotel with Drs Rao and Das, Mr and Mrs Rod Pryde of the British Council, Delhi, and Dr Arun Prakash, Head of the SAI International School, Bhubaneswar.
15.00 Planting saplings in the grounds of BLVPEI.
15.30 Press conference
17.00 Inauguration programme
19.00 Annual BLVPEI staff dinner
Friday 04 July
10.00 Debriefing at BLVPEI. I was present for the attendance of the MHCECC's first patient (undergoing an assessment).
Inauguration of the Miriam Hyman Children's Eye Care Centre, 3rd July 2008
Download the programme for the Inauguration of the MHCECC (.pdf)On the evening of 3rd July, as well as Dr Rao (Chair of LVPEI), Dr Das (Chair of BLVPEI), Dr Kesarwani (Head of MHCECC) and myself, we were honoured to be joined on the dias by Shri Ajit K Tripathy, Chief Secretary, Government of Orissa, Mr Rod Pryde, India Director, British Council and Ms Mona Sharma, Commissioner cum Secretary for Women and Children, Government of Orissa.
Here are excerpts from some of the speeches that were given at the inaugural ceremony.
Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Chair of the L V Prasad Eye Institute
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Dr Rao speaking |
“When Mavis Hyman contacted LVPEI in November 2007 we were thinking of developing the children’s eye care programme in our Bhubaneswar campus. It was a timely coincidence that the MHMT wanted to partner with us.
“It turned out that Mavis was born in Kolkata and spent the first twenty-six years of her life there before migrating to the United Kingdom, so she has a special affinity to this part of India.
“Today’s inauguration is just the beginning of a long journey. Our vision for the Centre is that in the next five years, every child in Orissa who needs any form of eye care should have access to the highest quality of eye care through the Centre. By the year 2020, no child in the State of Orissa should be needlessly blind or visually impaired. By that I mean that if there is something that can be prevented, we should be able to achieve that; if there is something that can be treated, we should be able to achieve that.
“I don’t claim for one moment that we will be able to do it all on our own. We will use this facility as a resource centre that will stimulate partnerships with like-minded organisations across the State in the eye care sector and allied sectors, like nutrition, maternal health, child health, sanitation etc. To build with all these groups working collaboratively we would like to create a system like the one that we began in Andhra Pradesh twenty years ago. We must replicate that kind of experience and influence. We are delighted that this is going to happen.
“As we develop the infrastructure of the programme, we must also develop the necessary human resources on a parallel path. And that has happened in the form of Dr Siddharth Kesarwani, who is trained as a Paediatric Ophthalmologist. Siddharth will be heading our effort here in this Children’s Eye Care Centre. You can build buildings, you can buy equipment, but if you have the right kind of people leading the effort, everything will come together. So in Dr Siddharth we have a very capable and competent ophthalmologist who I am sure will lead us to great success. Around him will be our team of subspecialists, because children’s eye care is a comprehensive system of multi-disciplinary care. You need an excellent cataract surgeon; you need an excellent corneal transplant surgeon, you need an excellent glaucoma specialist, you need an excellent retina specialist and so on. All of them together build an excellent organisation. Another example of this is the prevalence of eye cancer in children and we have an excellent ophthalmologist here with ocular oncology training, so with all the team together we will provide comprehensive eye care for every aspect of children’s eye care problems.
“At L V Prasad, care doesn’t just start with medical and surgical treatment. We go one step further wherever we work by helping with the rehabilitation of those people whose sight cannot be restored, either medically or surgically. For them, we provide the necessary rehabilitation training, and that will be an integral part of this Children’s Eye Care Centre too. So this will add to the comprehensive approach; prevention, treatment of diseases and rehabilitation of the incurably blind.
“Everything we do at LVPEI has three distinct components; service delivery, education and research. Along with service delivery will be education and training programmes for all personnel needed for children’s eye care in this part of the country and in the entire developing world, because that what our profile is. LVPEI’s programmes serve ninety per cent of people from India and ten per cent from all over the world. We are involved in research all the way from molecular genetics in the laboratories at cutting-edge level, to looking at better methods of service delivery to the remotest rural areas of our country where people have no access to any form of health care today. So the entire gamut of research from cutting edge laboratory research to social research relating to blindness will be part of this Centre.
“So that is what the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre is going to be, and we are delighted that, coinciding with the second anniversary of our campus here in Bhubaneswar we are able to create another very significant milestone in the evolution of our Institute today.
“On behalf of the Institute I want to thank all of you for joining us on this occasion. I hope that all of you will carry back the message that here is a Centre that is valuable to the children of Orissa, whatever their eye care problem. We can take care of them.”
Dr Taraprasad Das, Chair of the L V Prasad Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar (BLVPEI)
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“Two years since the inauguration of BLVPEI. When I look back I see barren land and no trees. When I look back I see hundreds of workers working very hard to build the structure. When I look back I see the trust of all our big and small supporters who believed in us.
“Two years of a very humbling experience. I recall with nostalgia when a patient said ‘the doctor is busy planting a tree. I am suspicious that this is an eye hospital!’. This was when I was supervising planting the first tree near the front gate on a rainy afternoon.
“Yes, it is a completion of two years so it is customary to give you all a progress report. 62,000 out-patients, 6000 surgeries, 4700 school children survey, 300 low vision services, 38 publiations and 4 awards. There is also an optometry internship, optometry degree programme and comprehensive ophthalmology fellowship programmes.
“On behalf of the Institute and myself I thank the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust for their generous support. I like to dream. I dream that the Centre grows to an Institute of its own – the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Institute, in 5 years. It will be an institute where we create and practice new knowledge, an institute where we translate medicine from lab to clinic and from clinic to curb side.
“Thank you all.”
Dr Siddharth Kesarwani, Head of the Miriam Hyman Children's Eye Care Centre
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“To give an analogy, we live in a world of baby soap, baby shampoo, baby oil, so why not paediatric ophthalmology? We understand the need for special products for babies; it’s not difficult to understand that their eyes are different.
“Paediatric ophthalmology is a relatively new subspeciality in India. It is important to understand the need for a specialised department exclusively dedicated to the paediatric age group.
“Children are playful and they’re adaptive; they adapt to their abilities. This quality leads us to believe that everything is alright with the child. He is playing, fighting, watching television, playing pranks; what can possibly be wrong with his eyes? By the time a problem is discovered at school by a teacher, or by a friend, it’s often too late to do anything about it.
“We have two eyes and a problem with the functioning of one eye is almost impossible to detect by the parents or teachers or anyone who is around the child. These children require screening, which is vital to pick up eye disorders in children. Intervention at the right time, with the use of glasses, occlusion and surgery can often restore a child’s vision.
“Timing is crucial; there’s no point swinging the bat after the ball has passed. We have come across several children whose parents took them to the ophthalmologist or to a general physician with an eye problem when they were young and they were met with a casual remark; “It will sort itself out as the child grows up,” or, “The child is too small for us to operate on.” Such myths need to be dispelled. A child is never too young to be examined, never too small to wear glasses, never too small to be operated upon. When a child needs intervention, they should get it.
“What will we be doing at the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre? When children come to us we play with them. We show them pictures and toys. We talk to them, and in the process we examine their eyes; the movements and the perception. We can operate on the tiniest baby if need be.
“The socio-economic impact of one child going blind is enormous because they have to live their entire life with this blindness. It is the loss of these years that makes intervention absolutely essential in the paediatric age group. We at the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre are now fully equipped to deal with any eye disorder in any paediatric age group. A three year old will be completely different to a sixteen-year-old child.
“With the philanthropy of our donors and the passion of our Founders and the hard work of our entire team we hope to one day lead the field in developing facilities and human resources for screening, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for visually impaired children in this part of the world. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust and the entire Hyman family for partnering us in this good cause.”
Esther Hyman, representing the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust
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With the inaugural candle in front of the MHCECC plaque |
“I’m going to start with my thanks.
“The first one goes to the musician Nitin Sawhney whose piece, “Firmament” we listened to. He very kindly allowed us to use it for this inauguration. My sister, Mim, was a great fan of his. She saw him play live long before he was well known, and she was sure that he would become famous, and she was right! So we are very grateful to him for contributing to this event.
“Next I’d like to thank every one of you for coming here this evening. It’s delightful to see you all here, and I know that in London my family and some of Miriam’s friends are watching on a Skype connection, so welcome to them also.
“Next I have to thank every member of staff at the L V Prasad Eye Institute. They have done so much for us - not only here in Bhubaneswar, but also the staff at the Hyderabad campus, which is the mother institute. They’ve done more than we could ever have imagined, and most of all they’ve made us feel like part of the team and part of the family.
“It’s difficult to express our feelings when it was suggested that the Children’s Eye Care Centre would be named after Miriam. In this way we feel that we have created a lasting, fitting tribute to Miriam, who was such a loving, caring and generous person herself.
“Something that I have learned from losing my sister in this way is that you cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can control how you respond to it. If something negative happens, you can either let it beat you, or you can move forward in as constructive and positive a way as possible and Miriam was such a positive person herself that it wouldn’t have been fitting if we had allowed ourselves to become depressed and not do something in her memory that honours the way she lived. In her lifetime she sowed seeds of caring and generosity, and we feel that it is our duty to help those seeds to flourish. With this partnership between LVPEI, the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust and the newly-created Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre we feel that we are fulfilling that destiny.
“Although I’m not an expert on the importance of the work here at LVPEI I would like to mention some of the aspects of their work that drew us to this particular project. First of all we were very pleased to be involved in a project that is helping children. If we can address the challenges of childhood ophthalmology, we can improve the futures of many, many people, and each and every individual who benefits from treatment at the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre or its outreach programmes in the community helps to tip the balance and counteract the negativity of the events of 7th July 2005.
“We also feel that Miriam would support the fact that treatment is available to patients irrespective of the ability to pay, so that any child who presents with any eye care issue will be treated. This also reflects how Miriam was; she had a way of making every person feel valued, wanted and loved, and we hope that this will continue through the work of the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre.
“To give you a little bit of background, over the last three years since we lost Miriam we have held a series of activities. There are people who were very close to Mim, people who knew her only a little and people who didn’t even know her who have contributed their ideas, their time and their resources to raise over £70,000. We combined that with compensation money awarded to the family to provide the equipment for the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre. Seeing the equipment in place and knowing how many children are going to benefit from it brings us great joy.
“Now we would just like to pledge the ongoing support of the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust. We will be attempting to continue our support in any way that is needed by the Centre.
“Finally we would like to wish every success to the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre, to all who work there and all who benefit from treatment there.”
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 Bhubaneswar |
 The entrance to BLVPEI. The MHCECC is on the ground floor to the right of the portico |
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 The MHMT paid to equip the MHCECC. This is a diagnostic examination room. |
Specialised hardware and software including a Braille printer |
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 Planting a silver oak sapling in the grounds |
Dr Kesarwani being interviewed at the press conference |
Esther, Ms Sharma, Dr Rao, Shri Ajit K Tripathy, Dr Das, Mr Pryde, Dr Kesawarni (For titles see intro above) |
 Speaking to those gathered in London to watch the ceremony via the Internet |
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 Dr Rao and Rod Pryde after the ceremony |
 Shri Ajit K Tripathy after the ceremony |
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 First patient at the MHCECC, 4th July |
The rehabilitation expert makes assessments through play activities. The parents (in the background) are involved at every stage. |
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 A gift for the Centre |
 4th July |
Thanks
Drs Rao and Das, Chair of LVPEI and BLVPEI respectively for partnering the MHMT and for naming their Children’s Eye Care Centre after Miriam
Dr Kesarwani for his commitment to heading the MHCECC
All medical, technical, admin and support staff at the MHCECC and at BLVPEI for their important roles in the smooth running of the Centre
Sarika Jain Antony (Hyderabad LVPEI) for her contributions to the inauguration and the MHCECC brochure
Surendra Basti (LVPEI Hyderabad) for his technical assistance with the inauguration
Gungadhar Jalli (LVPEI Hyderabad) for recording the proceedings
Chhoton Dey (BLVPEI) for his technical assistance
Raghuram Sastry (BLVPEI) for taking care of Esther’s itinerary, transport and other details
Bikash Chandra Mohanta (BLVPEI) for being the perfect tour guide at the Institute and in Bhubaneswar
Nitin Sawhney for allowing us to play his track "Firmament" at the inauguration
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Esther had the opportunity to thank Nitin Sawhney in person when he played at Oxford's Carling Academy in November 2008 |
Related links:
LVPEI: "Miriam Hyman Children's Eye Care Centre inaugurated"
Other coverage:
BBC News Online (Home Page on 07/07/08)
BBC News Channel
BBC London News
BBC World Service
The Hindu (1)
The Hindu (2)
The Jewish Chronicle
Download the UK Press Release for the Inauguration of the MHCECC (.pdf)
Download the international Press Release for the Inauguration of the MHCECC (.pdf)
Monday 21-July-2008
