In 2001, Rafael Rib\u00f3 and Dr Borja Corc\u00f3stegui travelled to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria) almost by chance, without imagining that the experience would ultimately mark the birth of Eyes of the world. Their relationship, however, goes back much further: Borja Corc\u00f3stegui, a retinal specialist ophthalmologist, had treated Rafael Rib\u00f3 in several procedures that helped preserve his sight. During the return journey from the Sahara, after becoming aware of the serious state of eye health they had witnessed first-hand, the two reflected on the role they could play as professionals. It was on that return flight that the idea of a foundation first began to take shape, which, months later, became Eyes of the world.<\/p>\n
Rafael and Borja committed themselves, together with a group of volunteers, to changing the ophthalmic reality of resource-limited territories where avoidable blindness affects the lives of their inhabitants.<\/p>\n
Rafael Rib\u00f3, Chair of the Board of Trustees and member of the Executive Committee, holds a doctorate in Political, Economic and Commercial Sciences, is a retired associate professor at the University of Barcelona, and has developed an extensive academic, political and institutional career. He served as a member of the Parliament of Catalonia and of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, and was Ombudsman of Catalonia between 2004 and 2022, also promoting various international initiatives in the field of human rights.<\/p>\n
Dr Borja Corc\u00f3stegui, meanwhile, is Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees, a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Medical Committee. He is an ophthalmologist specialising in retina and vitreoretinal surgery, co-founder of the Barcelona Institute of Ocular Microsurgery (IMO), and an internationally recognised leader in this field. He has served as President of the Spanish Retina and Vitreous Society and EURETINA, and has distinguished himself through his clinical, teaching and research work, receiving numerous international awards.<\/p>\n
Now, 25 years later, they reflect on the impact of their decision.<\/p>\n
When you think about the beginning, when you had the idea of creating Eyes of the world, what memory comes to mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rafael: What I remember is the feeling of starting an initiative that was completely unknown to us, but which seemed to us that it would be very fruitful and that it would have effects far beyond what we could imagine. It was three days of experience in the Sahrawi refugee camps, seeing how people were able to regain their sight. From that moment onwards, we felt a very strong drive to say: what do we do? And that is how the idea of organising ourselves emerged, finding the solution of creating a foundation.<\/p>\n Borja: I think back to the visit to the Sahara. It was from that moment onwards that the whole foundation developed. Rafael was determined, he put an enormous amount of energy into making this happen, and he looked for the right people and the legislation that existed at the time in order to develop the foundation. My role was more focused on medical development. I could see that, however little was done, the situation in a territory such as the Sahrawi refugee camps would improve. Given the many shortcomings, any small action that was carried out would make a difference. And, just like this territory, there were (and still are) many others with major deficiencies in eye treatments. It was an excellent idea, but one that required a great deal of effort.<\/p>\n Did you have a clear idea of how far you wanted to go?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rafael: No, because I believe that we still do not have it today. Unfortunately, the fight against vulnerability and blindness, which can be linked to the former, has no limits. Therefore, as has happened over these 25 years, we continue to grow and there is still much to do, without rushing and without improvising. There is still a great deal to be done in a solid and sustainable way.<\/p>\n Borja: I did not have a preconceived idea or a final project. I thought that we had to work hard and we would get as far as we could. What I knew was that we needed to organise ourselves to be able to carry out the action that this place required.<\/p>\n What would you highlight from the Foundation\u2019s 25-year journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rafael: We are certain that the change we embraced very early on, around 20 years ago, is producing results: moving from an assistance-based, temporary model, largely dependent on what we ourselves did in the territories, to a model that promotes progress and development within those territories.<\/p>\n The first approach had one advantage: it seemed that we were involving people from here. We understood that, although some people still need to continue going there, for example for training purposes, responsibility must gradually be transferred to professionals in the territory. This was accompanied by another fact that I had not imagined: that we need to be there all year round. Our efforts cannot be limited to going to the field for ten days a year. I have enormous respect for those who do this, but one of the key elements and most positive meanings of this foundation is that we are present 365 days a year. We are there, ready to promote public eye health, especially for the most vulnerable people everywhere, making the universal right to sight a reality. We achieved a major change in approach, from which the involvement, shared responsibility and creativity of all the people involved have continued to grow, from doctors to nursing staff and optometrists, as well as awareness-raising and education teams, and the extremely important role of women, such as those who help to overcome the culture of traditional medicine based on shamans and build trust in health and public healthcare that is accessible to everyone.<\/p>\n Borja: The key point was moving from simply taking action (with a degree of teaching involved) to making training an absolute priority. Otherwise, we would be a foundation carrying out a good and charitable action but achieving a weak result because we would not be leaving established work on territory. It was in 2004 or 2005 that the foundation changed to include teaching and direct curative medical actions in the field. Training developed further because we quickly saw that the people who were learning performed their work better and did not need us to be there. We supported them with equipment, organisation, knowledge and follow-up, but their growing independence began to become evident. Ophthalmology, as it is not a life-saving speciality, had always been somewhat removed from mainstream medical knowledge.<\/p>\n In short, they needed to have these two things: knowledge and equipment. And they needed to know how to use them.<\/p>\n What motivates you to keep going, after all this time?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rafael: The right to sight, which seems like something very basic and taken for granted everywhere, starting in our own country, is not guaranteed. It must be one of the rights that, after the right to life, is most important for everyone. And it is motivating to see how we can ensure that it is not only a policy of aid or cooperation, but rather the fulfilment of such an important right. I am still deeply moved by the image of when a person has the blindfold removed from their eyes, after 5 or 10 years of not being able to see. When I remember it and explain it, especially to people who do not know the reality of Eyes of the world, I cannot help but become emotional. Added to this is what it means that, in a neighbourhood in Inhambane (Mozambique) or in Oruro (Bolivia), a person who is often outside social and family networks, among others, is given a new beginning and has all their potential within reach once again.<\/p>\n Borja: In a way, what motivates us are the results: when we see progress and the sustainability of teams, professionals, hospitals and other necessary resources. When that exists, the number of people needing eye operations decreases. That gives you enormous strength. You remember what was done in 2005, 2007, 2015 or 2021 and you see the process: people have been trained, knowledge has been passed from one person to another, and the result motivates you to keep working.<\/p>\n Do you recall any moment or experience with Eyes of the world that particularly marked you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rafael: Several. From the moment we discovered the Foundation\u2019s great potential, to the most recent one, discovering with Arrels, in Barcelona, that people without a life project, without a home, also suffer from a major form of vulnerability and poverty: vision loss. It is not only shelter or food that determines their lives. Even at the beginning, when the idea of the project with homeless people was starting to emerge, some people said that it was not necessary here.<\/p>\n Other specific experiences could be the beginning, going to build and equip hospitals in El Alto (Bolivia), a city of more than one million inhabitants that was completely abandoned from a healthcare perspective. Or also what happened around Inhambane when we began reaching the most rural areas, far away from the capitals. In Mozambique, when we arrived there years ago, there were only around five ophthalmologists in a country of 17 million inhabitants. In addition, people in Inhambane or the surrounding areas who needed glasses had to travel 500 or 600 kilometres to Maputo, the capital, to obtain some kind of optical assistance. Today we describe it as something that is… not completely resolved, nothing is ever completely resolved, but there are already tools and facilities available so that they can access it.<\/p>\n Borja: I have good memories of treatments we carried out under those initial conditions. The results were spectacular and, even when an achievement was not as impressive, for them it had a very positive impact, because they had no other possibility. Even so, we could never avoid leaving a place with the bad feeling of leaving people without care. But the queue is endless. It is very nice to say \u201cwe have cured two thousand, five thousand\u201d or however many thousands it may be. But you feel that, when you leave, you leave millions behind.<\/p>\n That is why the teaching and organisational side that these communities needed was what we focused on as our main priority and which, personally, I believe all foundations should do. Because otherwise, we focus on carrying out specific actions in one place, but the day we are no longer there, they disappear. I think that, almost without discussing it, Rafael and I agreed that this was what needed to be done.<\/p>\n What do you think are the main future challenges for Eyes of the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rafael: One that has been there since the beginning, and which I would also highlight as one of the factors that immediately motivated me, is that they themselves are not only the protagonists, but that the right to sight becomes embedded within the public healthcare systems of these countries. When we started working in Mozambique, we realised that it was very important to develop a national ophthalmology plan and integrate it into the healthcare system. Health priorities were focused on other issues such as AIDS or Malaria, without being aware that in all these territories, with the conflicts caused by underdevelopment and poverty that they carry with them, blindness and the need for eye care were equally present. We are aware that we are privileged to be in the most \u201csufficient\u201d part of the planet, which is said to represent 20% of the total population, compared with an 80% that is still far from having their most basic rights met. We could start by providing 100% of care while the local system provided only 2%, but the aim is for them to eventually provide 80 or 90%, while we can offer sustainable support and work in other territories.<\/p>\n Borja: The future is always uncertain, and we must face it. The Foundation could have closed down, but it has continued because it has had the involvement of all the people who make it possible. I cannot say it is only because of Rafael and me, but because of everyone who has pushed to make this possible: doctors and ophthalmologists, but also the teams that work alongside them and are equally fundamental. A doctor alone can achieve very little, however much willingness they may have. No matter how much medical equipment is transported to these territories, a huge amount is spent to carry out a small action that cannot be sustained. Personally, I believe that the Foundation will continue to grow with its current professionalised structure, hopefully becoming a model to follow for other organisations. I believe that society must recognise that there are institutions that provide training and opportunities for this work to grow, to have cohesion and strength, and that we must support them.<\/p>\n Would you like to add anything, any comment?<\/strong><\/p>\n Rafael: Oh, we could talk for hours!<\/p>\n Borja: These 25 years of experience (and the years still to come) have not been easy, but they have been carried out with a great deal of heart. Enthusiasm drives everything, in every job. I believe that without enthusiasm, without willingness, without joy, without the motivation to do things better, it is not possible to carry out a job. Because enthusiasm will help you improve yourself and society. In the end, that is what I like the most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37796,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"class_list":["post-37795","entrevistes","type-entrevistes","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n