Center for Ocular Prosthetics

Featured Articles & Interviews

LUGANDA PROVERB :- "Amagezi gandi ku mwoyo, ng'omufuuwi w'ennombe" The ideas in my mind are like tunes in the head of the horn-blower, As long as it is not spoken, you cannot know it" ​

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NTV NEWS ENGLISH

NTV Morning Show

NTV LUGANDA NEWS

KFM 93.3 INTERVIEW

Script

Losing one’s ability to see can be very difficult to accept.
Some of the most common fears include your dependability on others to perform even trivial daily life tasks.
Feeling handicapped in doing things others can do around you effortlessly can push you towards embarrassment as well as anxiety.
Dr. Franklin Wasswa, the country’s only Ocularist is helping many Ugandans who have lost their eyes to cope by improving their confidence level.
We speak to him this morning about making artificial eyes.
OCULARIST FEATURE
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Opening sound of Micheal
Michael Kiwumulo is a 19 year old student of nursing who lost his sight after what started as a simple itch in one eye.
In December last year Kiwumulo underwent surgery and was advised to get an artificial eye.

According to Dr. Franklin Wasswa, just like is the case for many Ugandans, the process was too costly for this young man to afford considering that he had already undergone several surgeries.

Kiwumulo admits that the process of acquiring an artificial eye is a complicated one.

He is currently using conformers and according to the doctor he still has to undergo many procedures.

 

 

Such services are however limited because currently Dr. Franklin Wasswa is the country’s only Ocularist.
He tells me he was inspired by a magazine that was bought by his mother.

His journey as an Ocularist stay in Chicago where as a young general practitioner, he met someone who was doing this job of making artificial eyes.

By what exactly entails his job?

All is not rosy for Dr. Wasswa. He has had some low moments too in his career and one of them was when he returned to Uganda and was hit by the numerous challenges in the country’s health sector.

This forced him to go back but gave him an opportunity to learn more about the trade.

The biggest challenge he says is the difficulty and high cost of getting the necessary materials and equipment, which in-turn makes the service unaffordable to many.

The other is the limited number professionals in this field.

Also, since there’s no clear-cut course for ocularists, it takes a lot of patience for one to acquire the skills.

He thus plans to train Kiwumulo who has expressed interest in acquiring the skill and is already undergoing nursing training.

He then takes me through the process of making and artificial eye how long it takes him to have it ready for use.

I then ask if this artificial eye can actually move and even function normally.

And does it expire? I ask him.

Dr. Wasswa has big dreams and plans for this business

Finally, he tips the public of eye care to prevent vision loss.

This report was compiled by KFM’s Shamim Nateebwa

Pride Of Entebbe

In the picture is Dr Wasswa Franklin Kalibwani WRITE UP : Nyakaana Charles /Pride of Entebbe
ENTEBBE ‘s Premier Ocularist________
An ocularist is someone who specializes in the fabrication and fitting of ocular prostheses for people who have lost an eye or eyes due to trauma or illness. The fabrication process for a custom made eye typically includes taking an impression of the eye socket, shaping a plastic shell, painting the iris and then fitting the ocular prostheses. In addition to creating the prosthetic eye, they show the patient how to care for and handle the prosthesis.
Ocularists may develop their skills from various background disciplines, for example medical, optometry, dental, nursing, biology, medical arts and illustration.
Born Wasswa Franklin Kalibwani on Queens road in Entebbe, He attended ENTEBBE’s Prestigious (Entebbe) kindergarten, opposite the only 1st European School in Entebbe, Lake Victoria School, then joined budo Junior school and after a while he joined ENTEBBE’s only Christian Academy School.
Kalibwani joined secondary and attended Ndejje SS for his O’Levels and finished High school at Seroma Christian High School.
While at Kyambogo University he enrolled for a bachelor of science tech – biology. Which he did for one semester before he concluded that medicine was going to be his only love. Kalibwani further went a head and joined Washington University in USA and further on became an international student of medicine.
While in the USA he attained his first degree, doctor of medicine (MD). The American version of the British/Ugandan MBCHB. And there after did a fellowship in Psychology, gastroenterology and hepatology at Presence Saint Joseph Hospital, in Chicago USA and also Geriatric medicine in Ohio, USA. Before he fell in love with eyes (Opthalmology), later on training in ocularistry.
Ocularists are very few. In East Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and D. R. Congo. Kalibwani is by far the only one who is trained as an Ocularist hence becoming a true PRIDE OF ENTEBBE.
Versatile Kalibwani a trained medical doctor, an ocularist , a saxophonist , guitarist who enjoys playing for his church band in Entebbe .
Kalibwani a Cricketer who plays in the Ugandan cricket league and also a player for Nile cricket club in Uganda and also while a student in the USA he played for Chicago United Cricket Club and was the only right arm spin bowler of his clubs , A leg break type of spin. Which hence made him be nicknamed (LEG) . Which word he ended up adopting it into an acronym L.E.G ( LOVED•ESTEEMED•GRATIFIED)
As an ocularist, Kalibwani fits, designs and constructs artificial eyes for patients who have lost them due to injury or illness. It’s a process that takes, on average, sixteen to twenty hours per eye, although some can take up to eighty hours of work. Kalibwani is the only Ugandan and Uganda’s most accomplished ocularist and the only one in Entebbe
Kalibwani has studied about people’s behaviors that are self destructive, He has written about healthcare and patient education about diseases background. And continues to focus on teaching and international oculist consulting through his website of ocularistry. (artificialeyesuganda.com)
Today our eyes are said to be the windows to our souls , the key to how we are recognised by the world and by ourselves. But for those of us who have lost an eye through disease, accident or even a war injury, a false one can play just as important a role in shaping our identities.
The face is such an important piece of our bodies, when we communicate, and a piece of our psyche not that a limb is not, but when you interact with people you look right at their face.
People don’t know about the field. Unfortunately if you need it, or you know someone who needs it, you ask, “who makes these eyes anyway?” You come to find out, there is only one person in your country, Sometimes finding them is through most
ophthalmologist.
If the eyes really are the windows to the soul, then Kalibwani is like a Jedi plate-glass specialist, someone who takes in the subtle characteristics of the windowpane itself while everyone else is just looking through it.
Truth is said our parents, our homes, our schools as well as our roads shape us into who we become. As all these give us people and experiences that shape our lives. These all do lead us to our destinations, our future careers, our future spouse, and our future lives
Dr Wasswa Franklin Kalibwani has the soul of an artist, the technique of a master craftsman and a remarkable eye for eyes, Kalibwani is almost certainly the best-known practitioner in his field .
Creating an artificial replica of someone’s seeing eye that looks good and works well—that’s a form of art which makes him a true Pride of Entebbe, Let’s show him some Uganda n and ENTEBBE love here as we celebrate him and the many ocularist all over the world.
The BEAUTY about this FACEBOOK page (PRIDE OF ENTEBBE) – We continue to celebrate our people, our town, our culture, our heritage as well as promoting our tourism.