Humanitarian Leaders
Meet the inspiring medical volunteers at the forefront of SEE’s mission. It is the hard work and dedication of our doctors that make our life changing work possible.
SEE’s network of over 650 volunteer medical professionals donate their time and expertise to ensure individuals all across the globe can access the care they need. We are honored to work with such inspiring humanitarian leaders that share our mission of ending preventable blindness.
Dr. Helena Ndume
Growing up during Namibia’s illegal occupation by apartheid South Africa, Dr. Helena Ndume is no stranger to adversity.
She was inspired to become a humanitarian ophthalmologist after traveling to receive her education and seeing the global need for accessible eyecare.
Dr. Ndume began volunteering with SEE international over 25 years ago, and has since restored sight to over 30,000 individuals throughout her career. She has dedicated her life to eradicating the epidemic of preventable blindness in Namibia, and has been recognized with many prestigious awards for her overwhelming impact on those in need.
Drs. Preeti & Janak Shah
Drs. Preeti and Janak Shah are SEE’s volunteer power-couple. Collectively, the two have been volunteering with SEE for over 21 years, traveling for over 100 programs in 20 countries.
In addition to running their own successful private practice in Mumbai, India, and volunteering to restore sight to individuals worldwide, Drs. Preeti and Janak Shah also volunteer in SEE’s vital ophthalmology training program. Between the two of them, they have taught 26 Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery Courses at many world-renowned medical institutes, training over 200 surgeons in the technique.
In April of 2022, the couple established a charitable hospital in Palghar, called the Sai Pooja Dental and Eye Care hospital, to provide free surgeries to underserved patients. SEE supports this hospital by providing essential medical supplies.
Dr. Jeffrey Levenson
As SEE’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jeffrey Levenson has traveled all around the world to restore sight on short-term SEE programs.
Having developed cataracts himself just 13 years ago, Dr. Levenson is extremely passionate about the opportunity to restore sight to individuals in need.
He currently runs a private practice in Jacksonville, Florida, where he began his own humanitarian eyecare program called Gift of Sight. This program provides free eyecare services to locals that would otherwise be unable to access it.
Over his 12 years volunteering with SEE, Dr. Levenson has focused primarily on restoring sight in the Philippines, where he has traveled for a total of 5 short-term SEE programs.
