A collaborative medical team made up of Surinamese and Belgian healthcare providers has just wrapped up a six-day outreach mission that brought life-changing specialized care to underserved rural communities along the Upper Suriname River, completing 37 cataract surgeries and treating 148 dental patients. Among the cataract recipients was a 95-year-old woman who had previously lost her vision to the condition.
The mission ran from September 6 to September 11, serving communities scattered across river villages stretching from Sukunale to Goejaba. The mixed team paired Surinamese and Belgian ophthalmologists with Belgian dental practitioners and dental students, with coordination led by Dr. Gaytree Baldewsingh of Medische Zending and ophthalmologist Jerrel Pawiroredjo from the Suriname Eye Center. Dr. Leen van den Abeele headed up the Belgian dental contingent. Organizers noted that the overwhelming turnout of patients waiting for care underscores the unmet need for specialized eye and dental services in this remote region.
A temporary operating room was set up specifically for the mission at Ladoeani, the team’s main base of operations. All 37 cataract procedures were performed at this site, with most patients being low-vision elderly residents. Many of these patients face limited mobility, making the long trip to the capital Paramaribo for specialized care prohibitively difficult. In addition to restoring sight to dozens of people, the mission addressed widespread dental health issues across the river villages.
Dental providers documented severe oral health problems that were surprisingly prevalent even among child patients. The team linked these widespread issues to rising consumption of sugar and sweetened sodas paired with insufficient access to oral hygiene education and resources. As part of the mission, participating dental students delivered hands-on tooth-brushing training and community education on the importance of consistent good oral hygiene to prevent long-term problems. Most of the dental procedures performed were extractions of teeth that had already suffered advanced decay and were causing painful complications that could not be reversed.
The outreach initiative was made possible through private funding: Conrad Issa of Lucky Store covered the majority of the mission’s financial costs, while Anaula Nature Resort sponsored accommodation for the entire medical team. Looking ahead, organizers plan to reinstate these annual medical missions to remote inland villages as a permanent, structured program. The core goal of the program is to bring specialized ophthalmic care closer to residents who face significant barriers to accessing treatment due to their isolated geographic locations.
Unmet demand for cataract and eye care extends far beyond the Upper Suriname River region. The Suriname Eye Center is already preparing for the second large-scale surgical mission of 2025, scheduled to take place in November in Nickerie. More than 600 patients are already on the waiting list for the upcoming mission, with organizers expecting to complete approximately 200 cataract surgeries during the outreach.