Culham has recently returned from a three-week volunteer mission in the African country, where a team of 10 health professionals and volunteers, seven of them from Hawke’s Bay, provided basic medical care, optometry services and health assessments across remote communities.
The work is part of an ongoing collaboration between the charity Eye Care for Africa, founded by Hastings’ optometrist Niall McCormick, and a Tanzanian charity organisation that runs schools, an orphanage and a small hospital.
“This was the second time that I personally have been and the third time that they’ve done this particular trip, attending to these schools and hospital,” Culham said.
“The teams would split into two, and we would start seeing the people as they arrived. There was often a large queue of people, but we limited ourselves to 50 people a day, because that’s all we could manage.”
The group treated about 500 people over the three weeks, working from 8.30am to 5pm.
“We took thousands of dollars’ worth of medication and dressings from New Zealand and bought at least $1000 more, because we used up everything that we took,” Culham said.
The Hawke’s Bay-led team treated about 500 people across remote communities in Tanzania, including cataracts surgery supported by Eyecare for Africa.
Culham said some cases he saw still keep him awake.
One 8-year-old boy at an orphanage had a swollen head and chronic runny nose.
“His case was so complex that I was texting specialists back in Hawke’s Bay to ask for advice,” Culham said.
“We think he has a condition called neurofibromatosis and needs lifelong specialist care for which he won’t receive any because it’s just not available in Tanzania.”
Even after returning home, the Hawke’s Bay volunteers are still trying to help.
“For the more complicated cases we assessed, we’re paying for them to see specialists in Tanzania. We know the limits of the system, but at least it gets them further forward than they would otherwise be. We hope to return and follow up them, which is much more difficult than you think it might be.”
Each volunteer paid their own way, contributing roughly $6000 for flights, accommodation and supplies, Culham said.
Support from Hawke’s Bay was significant, he said, including donations from Rotary Havelock North, Eye Care for Africa fundraising events, DHB, USL Medical, and local pharmacies.
Culham during his mission in a Maasai community in Tanzania.
The programme intends to return annually, with the next trip planned for 2026, and organisers are inviting new volunteers to join.
“There is an overwhelming need in Tanzania. They can’t access healthcare almost at all and there’s no free healthcare,” Culham said.
“It’s an amazing experience to be able to go and use our skills to help those people.”