Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are six times more likely than other Australians to go blind, even though their children have better vision than the mainstream population. Gabi Hollows has devoted her career to remedying this problem, creating the Fred Hollows Foundation with her husband before he passed away.
The Fred Hollows Foundation has recently partnered with Specsavers to close this gap, creating unique ‘Toby’ frames, featuring beautiful artwork by Indigenous artist Langaliki, who has herself undergone two cataract eye surgeries, thanks to The Fred Hollows Foundation.
In the wake of this new partnership, Rescu. caught up with Gabi Hollows to talk about the incredible achievements of the Fred Hollows Foundation, the advice she would give to young women looking to achieve great things, and how she’s balanced motherhood and such an intensive career.
RESCU: Can you tell us a little about the start of the Fred Hollows Foundation?
Gabi Hollows: In 1976 the royal Australian college of ophthalmologists was granted some money – a big grant to look at the national trachoma and eye health program.
We worked out in rural Australia for about three years. We saw about 112,000 people, we went to about 465 communities having a look at trachoma and eye disease.
Fred’s mantra was to have ‘follicle free five year olds’. So, to prevent little kids and infants from going on the following stage of their trachoma.
Fred was very committed to having a total eye care program, he said ‘there’s no survey without service’. We not only looked at people for their trachoma, we gave them a proper eye examination, we looked at their general health, we looked in their ears, there was no way you were going to look at someone’s eyes and then tell them to go away again.
We had a full time dispenser from OPSM who came with our teams and we had teams out in the field in every state for almost three years. We did a lot of surgery for trachoma, we did a lot of cataract surgery, or any other surgeries that were needed.
I was very lucky, as a very young, non-indigenous woman, to have that emersion into the beautiful communities.
RESCU: How has the outlook changed for indigenous Australians since you started in the 1970s? Is there still a lot of work to be done?
Gabi Hollows: In Nganampa health, which is the big health program that’s working in those areas, there’s been some amazing statistics that have come out of those communities.
In child health, in maternal health. There’s been a very, very big change in terms of our indigenous health – now people are living a lot longer. But of course then they’re going to have cataracts, people have got the old trachoma scarring where the lashes and the lids rub up down on the cornea. So that’s what we’re trying to address again.
It’s been a very ongoing thing, but for me there’s been a lot of hard work and aboriginal health is not an easy thing to address. It’s the life cycle, you’ve got new mums, new bubs, new young people, new doctors, new nurses, new teachers, all coming into those communities and every time it kind of gets a little bit better.
You’ve just got to be at it, and at it, and at it. It’s a bit like doing the laundry, or having a meal, you’ve just finished the meal and you’ve got to start all over again and tidy up.
That’s what health’s about, you’ve got to get to the beginning of the story, it’s a whole life long problem in indigenous communities and eye health. You’ve got to get to the littlies and you’ve got to address the oldies, so it goes right across all age groups.
RESCU: What piece of advice would you share with women who want to make a real change in the world?
Gabi Hollows: You can have a dream and a dream can come true. Fred’s dream was to provide eye care to everybody at the same level he would give to his private patients and his dream was to give first class eye surgery and affordable eye surgery to the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world.
Why are there so many blind people in the world? There’s so many blind people in the world because there’s just not enough doctors to go around. So that’s what the foundation’s been very committed to.
My job really is just to thank people who’ve believed in Fred’s dreams and helped them come true by donating to the foundation. It’s been one of the most amazing, mind bowing, experiences. People ask how I keep going, or how do I have the energy to do all this stuff? This fires up my batteries all the time, how fantastic and how committed to our program the Australian and New Zealand communities have become.
RESCU: Has the family foundations of the Fred Hollows foundation helped with the amazing achievements its made over the years?
Gabi Hollows: I like to think so. Everyone’s sort of grown up with my kids, and been witness to what we’ve delivered. It’s been a promise that we’ve made and we fulfilled it, but we couldn’t have done it without that sort of involvement.
People have done the most incredible things to fundraise for us, it’s just been incredible – personal challenges and amazing things that people have done – it’s all just come together.
Whenever there’s something really special there’ll be a big thunderstorm, or a big wind, and I always think ‘that’s Fred up there, rattling the clouds,’ and saying ‘hey! Time to get moving.’
It’s fabulous. It’s a great feeling for me to have, to be able to say thank you. That’s what I really want to say, to be able to say thank you.
How have you balanced the challenges of motherhood with your work for the Fred Hollows Foundation?
Gabi Hollows: I’ve had the most amazing group of friends, and godmothers and people who’ve just been there for me and my children. We’ve had a very extended family, and I couldn’t do it without that.
Then I was really blessed to meet John, and he was the best step dad that anyone could have ever had. He’s been the person who’s enabled me to be able to continue my work. And he’s secretly very proud of what goes on.
I’ve just been able to keep going out, and flying the flag for Fred and the foundation.
Motherhood is a challenge and it’s really hard to do, so you’ve got to share it around. Your kids are better off for it, you’re better of for it, if you’re lucky enough to be able to have some good buddies and good mates in your extended family, it’s a great way of being a good mum in lots of ways.I’ve had a bit of a dream run because I’ve got beautiful children and beautiful friends.
Some people don’t get it quite so easy, but it has been hard. But our kids, that’s the only life they know, so if we’d stop and hadn’t done what we did, it would have been really different, so that’s where we are.