U of M student to volunteer in Africa

In the last three years, Moe Kabir has traveled to almost every continent.

For his next trip, the 23-year-old biochemistry major will not spend New Year's Eve celebrating, but traveling to rural Ghana where he and three other volunteers will work for 18 days beside local medical personnel providing care to the visually impaired.

"You travel so far and at one point, it hits you how much you take for granted back home," he said. "Drinking water, for example - you just don't think about it."

Kabir's passion for travel began at an early age. Born in Saudi Arabia to Bangledeshi parents, he carried three passports for most of his life. Now a proud American citizen, The University of Memphis student said seeing the world is as simple as grabbing your backpack and booking a flight.

Influenced by his parents, Kabir spent the last several years working summers with the American Red Cross in Nashville. It was through those experiences, he said, that he thought about doing something on his own.

Africa, he said, wasn't a difficult stretch.

Part of a volunteer abroad program hosted by Unite for Sight, a nonprofit organization promoting global health and eye care, the trip is one of many in a year-round effort to train and treat as many people as possible.

Jennifer Staples, the 26-year-old founder of the company, said Kabir and the others will work with the local ophthalmologist going into remote villages where they'll treat 200 to 300 patients every day,

"If they need medication or eye glasses, they receive them on-site. If they need cataract surgery, they'll come to the capitol for a 15-minute procedure and go back to their lives as usual."

Staples said each cataract surgery performed in Ghana costs $50 per person.

"Not a lot of people have heard about it around here," Kabir said. "So many of these people just can't get basic healthcare. In America, it costs $3,000-$4,000 to get the same surgery, but they aren't paying for their own room, three square meals or longer-term medical care. That's why I need as much as I can get before I get over there."

Reaching out to friends and family, Kabir hopes to raise $1,500 before he leaves in December, with all proceeds to benefit the Ghanian people and their medical costs. Equipment for cataract surgeries, reading glasses, saline drops and medical kits will all be purchased before Kabir leaves the U.S.

At one-third his goal, Kabir said he's been lucky so many people have been willing to give, some as little as $1 per donation.

"We spend $15-$20 on dinner every time we go out," Kabir said. "Spend the night in - save a little money and put it towards a life changing operation that will give back someone's sight."

Founded in 2000, the program began as a stateside effort to give medical care to individuals suffering from preventable blindness. Staples, then a sophomore at Yale University, said she noticed a need and wanted to help.

Now a global operation, Unite for Sight has provided eye care to 600,000 people worldwide and coordinated and funded more than 18,471 sight-restoring surgeries for patients living in extreme poverty in Africa and Asia.

Staples regularly talks with volunteers from across the country and abroad. And though she said she's never officially met Kabir, several weeks of communication has given her plenty of confidence in his abilities as a volunteer.

"He's been great to talk to," she said. "He has a lot enthusiasm and dedication for the program. We're really excited to be working with him."

Less than two months from his departure, Kabir said he feels lucky to be chosen for the opportunity at all.

"I'm actually going to be able to help the people I visit," Kabir said. "I want other people to be able to go out and see the world. I want to share my good fortune so others can enjoy life by really seeing - like I have."