Giving Back
Mark Wevill is from Africa. He decided to dedicate his career to correcting vision because as a young surgeon in a rural African eye hospital he saw how overjoyed blind patients were when their sight was restored after their cataract surgery. The disabled were enabled & the dependent became independent.
Over the last 20 years he has contributed to eye care in many African countries. He is on the International Advisory board of Medical Missions Eswatini, is on the surgeon training faculty of the Community Eye Health Institute of the University of Cape town, is on the Charity Committee of the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) & recently worked with the Tshemba Foundation in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Medical Missions Eswatini, Southern Africa
Medical Missions Eswatini (MME) in the remote mountains of eastern Eswatini (previously Swaziland) provides effective, equitable & accessible eye & healthcare to the poor in the region. Mark Wevill serves on the MME International Advisory Board.
The dedicated MME team transforms lives with support from prominent aid organisations such as CBM International, the Lions, Rotary, the Eswatini Government, the World Health Organisation & the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.
University of Cape Town - Community Eye Health institute
UCT-CEHI was established to build capacity in public eye health services in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). In 2019 the CEHI Simulated Ophthalmic Surgery (SOS) training laboratory was launched.
Many SSA surgeons & others from low & middle income countries elsewhere in the world have benefitted from SOS laboratory training courses modelled on the Royal College of Ophthalmologists surgeon training course. Mark is one of the surgeon trainers.
The story of Titus:
Titus lives in a remote village in the Lebombo mountains of Eswatini. He & his wife were blinded by cataracts & they couldn’t look after his goats or farm their fields. Titus’ daughter runs a small shop so she couldn’t help him. So, his 14 year old grandson stopped attending school to help Titus.
The MME vision assessment team came to his village & a few days later he had sight saving cataract surgery. His wife has had surgery too & now they can plant crops, herd their goats & feed their chickens. His daughter can focus on her business & his grandson is back at school. Titus’ life has been changed from dependency to dignity & the whole family is benefitting.
Titus’ story is typical of the impact of cataracts & cataract surgery in rural Africa.
ESCRS (European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons)
Mark Wevill is on the ESCRS Charity Committee which supports initiatives & organisations dedicated to helping the visually impaired. The Eyes of the World Foundation provides eye care to people of the remote Inhambane province of Mozambique where over 80% of the population lives below the poverty line (£2.60 per day). The Blantyre Institute for Community Outreach, the Ridley Foundation, The Catholic Diocese of Wau & the St John Eye Hospital do similar work in Malawi, Nepal, South Sudan, & Gaza & East Jerusalem. And the ESCRS supports other projects which help the blind to see including The Community Eye Health Institute of the University of Cape Town. Read more about the ESCRS in Africa here, or in the ESCRS Eurotimes publications “Force for Good in Global Eye Care” & “Going Beyond Cataract Camps”.
Delivering sight saving surgery in a conflict zone
The ESCRS supports the Catholic Diocese of Wau charity, which restores sight in a remote region in one of the poorest countries in the world.
In a sight saving mission in 2025, 13 000 patients were seen & 2000 cataract blind patients had their sight restored.
Professor Lado of South Sudan & Ms Tatjana Gerber from the charity explain at an ESCRS congress.
Restoring sight. Renewing purpose
Through the Tshemba Foundation, doctors have the unique opportunity to turn their leave into a leave of purpose by volunteering at Tintswalo Hospital in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
By removing severe cataracts, volunteer ophthalmologists do more than restore vision — they help individuals regain their independence, return to work, see their children’s faces again, and walk to the market with dignity.
This is more than medicine. It’s about giving hope, offering second chances, and making a lasting impact. This is the Tshemba Foundation — giving back in the places where it truly matters most.
