A new 18-seater bus is now taking Indonesian people to appointments to have their sight restored free of charge, thanks to hard work put in by the Rotary Club of Dalkeith. Along with the Rotary clubs of West Perth and Nedlands, they secured a $45,000 grant from Rotary International so the John Fawcett Foundation could buy the bus to join its fleet of four mobile operating clinics. It’s a long way from the foundation’s first mobile clinic – a second-hand bus from Scotch College in Swanbourne. Dalkeith Rotary has a long history of helping the John Fawcett Foundation, whose mobile clinics offer free cataract surgery as well as other eye treatments. By the end of last year, the foundation had clocked up 56,164 eye operations, 2096 cleft lip and palate surgeries, had screened 1,068,199 patients, provided 506,298 pairs of glasses and fitted 670 prosthetic eyes. Dalkeith Rotary Club member Win Jones, a former Nedlands newsagent, is chairman of the John Fawcett Foundation and said these achievements had begun with the vision of Perth man John Fawcett 30 years ago. “John was an art teacher specialising in ceramics at Perth Technical College,” Win said. “He had health problems and went to live in Bali, where he was invited to share his craft skills. “As he worked with the local people he identified recurring health problems in the people around him. “In 1989, he established the Bali Eye Clinic, which became the John Fawcett Foundation. “John Fawcett died in 2017 after devoting himself to the people of Indonesia for 30 years but his foundation is still going strong,” Win said. The foundation is based in Sanur, in Bali, and the 45 medical and support staff are all Indonesian, many trained by Perth medical people. Many Perth surgeons donate their time and expertise, including Nedlands plastic surgeon Tim Cooper. Win said: “We think the foundation has a great future, thanks to strong support from individuals, people leaving money to the foundation in their wills, corporate sponsors and support from international companies, including some in Indonesia.”