This is the second time Dominique Mustur has operated in Vogan, which is about an hour and a half by car from the capital Lomé. "Vogan is small, with just over 1,000 inhabitants," says the 44-year-old. The road is full of potholes, she says, and the infrastructure is poor. "At least the hospital has a well-equipped operating room, but unfortunately no equipment for eye surgery," Mustur says. This is brought from Switzerland in containers. Each mission lasts two weeks.

Word of the offer has spread: Some people travel up to 600 kilometers to be treated. An operation takes from 15 minutes to an hour. The team only treats people with very advanced cataracts. "In almost all cases, we only operate on one eye in sufferers - so that we can help as many as possible," explains the eye surgeon, who has traveled to Africa many times. In Cape Town, she worked for eight months at the eye clinic of the local university. Togolese hospital staff, trained by the foundation, provide the follow-up treatments.
"You can't change the world, but you can help people," Mustur says self-critically. She is happy about every successful operation. The missions in Togo put the everyday problems of the population in Switzerland and throughout Western Europe into perspective every time.