Eye surgery mission trip to Ecuador opens “eyes” for Dr. Heitman’s family

During July 2008, Dr.Kurt Heitman and his family (wife – Robin, and sons Andrew and Peter) traveled to Ecuador to provide eye care and surgery for people in great need.  The article below is Peter’s own words about the experience and the joys of the trip.

This past summer I had the opportunity to attend a medical mission trip to Ecuador with my family and two other medical personnel.  Although it was my third mission trip to Ecuador, it was my first medical mission trip.  While in Ecuador my dad (Dr. Heitman) performed around 30 eye surgeries for the Ecuadorians.  These people were in dire need of help, and their eyes were in terrible condition.  At the beginning of the trip I thought that we would be giving to them, but we gained very much from our experience there.  The Ecuadorians were very loving and grateful.  I used to believe that being thankful was just saying “thank you”, but we received much more than just a simple “thank you.”  On one occasion we had a family hunt us down in the local grocery store.  They took us out to dinner with their whole family (a very large family), and with all six of our group.  Every day people brought us gifts of fresh fruits, drinks or snacks.  This giving was very difficult for them to do being that the average salary in Ecuador is less than 200 dollars per month.  The week that we spent there was very tiring as we worked from before the sun came up, till the sun went down.  We stayed in a beautiful house right on the beach which helped us to relax every night after a hard day’s work.  However, when my dad asked me what my favorite part of the trip was, I answered that my favorite part of the trip was not the house, the scenery, or the wonderful food.  The patients were my favorite part of the trip.  Each and everyday we came to the clinic where people were already waiting for us.  They greeted us warmly, and talked at us in Spanish even though we couldn’t understand that well.  As I already said, they brought us what little they had.  Bananas, apples, oranges, whatever they could find they brought to us.  They gave with a joyful heart, not because they felt that they had to. 

Matthew 25 would have been a good theme for our mission trip this year……."Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…..The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  During our trip this year we provided something for these people that they would not have otherwise been able to get.  We were all very happy to assist these Ecuadorians, and I’m sure we all had a wonderful time.  I hope that next year we will have the same opportunity to help these people, and I look forward to seeing all the friends that we made while we were down in Ecuador.

This mission trip to Ecuador is one of many trips that the physicians at Southern Eye have devoted their time and expertise to help others.  With the help of God, sight has been restored and blindness prevented for many people through surgeries performed during these mission trips