Heroes of Orbis: Bulgan Orgilsaikhan

When she was just 10 years old Bulgan was in a life-changing car accident, which had a devastating effect on her family and left her with a sight-threatening eye condition.

Dealing with the trauma of the accident was only half of Bulgan’s struggle – every two days she had to endure a painful procedure to clear out her damaged tear ducts with a needle.

At that time, there were no pediatric eye doctors in Mongolia who knew how to repair Bulgan’s injuries. For a whole year, Bulgan had to carry on with this painful routine to prevent her from losing her sight altogether.

Then, in 1998 hope arrived for Bulgan and her family when the Flying Eye Hospital landed in Mongolia. Bulgan had been chosen as a training case by Mongolian doctors so they could learn how to carry out the complex tear duct surgery she needed by our team of volunteers.

Having her sight restored didn’t just mean the end to her painful daily routine, it also meant Bulgan could fully participate in her education and community once more – and work towards her dream of studying in North America.

Now, more than twenty years later, Bulgan is a successful entrepreneur in Canada and an active ambassador for the global eye health community, kindly giving up her free time to help combat vision loss.

And in 2014, she saw the long-term impact of our work while volunteering on a Flying Eye Hospital program in Mongolia as a translator. Here, she encountered Dr. Bayasgalan Purevdorj, an oculoplastic surgeon from her home country of Mongolia, who is an expert in tear duct surgery—the same sight-restoring procedure Bulgan herself had all those years before.

Bulgan’s support for eye care hasn’t stopped there! Recently she turned her hand to communicating vision loss to a wider audience, joining Dr. Hunter Cherwek to co-present two episodes of our SIGHTLINES podcast series.

As a former patient and now a board member for Orbis Canada, Bulgan brings a unique perspective. We are so grateful to Bulgan for supporting our work so wholeheartedly and in so many ways!

Slideshow: Bulgan’s journey with Orbis over the years

Orbis is dedicated to improving access to eye care in Mongolia, with a big focus on training and mentoring the next generation of eye care professionals.

“Mongolian is one of the rarest languages in the world,” Bulgan tells us “Not much content is available, even on the internet. So I am very thankful when I think that Cybersight is the only professional platform that conducts lectures in Mongolian.”

Thanks to our dedicated volunteers, partners and supporters, we have been able to translate learning materials and training courses on Cybersight into Mongolian, meaning more young eye doctors can develop the skills they need to save sight.

We want to say a big thank you to Bulgan for everything she does to help fight avoidable blindness. You are an inspiration to everyone at Orbis and a true Eye Care Hero.