Award Recipients with President Jose Ramos Horta.
Five Tasmanian optometrists from Total Eyecare have been awarded the Order of Timor Leste medal by His Excellency Jose Ramos Horta, President of East Timor. The medals recognise the optometrists’ extraordinary voluntary service to the people of East Timor from 2002 to 2020.
The honoured optometrists – Andrew Koch, Andrew Maver, the late Micheal Knipe, Sib Payne, and Colin McKenzie – were founding members of the ProVision Optometry Team (PVOT), a groundbreaking humanitarian initiative that transformed eye care in East Timor following the country’s independence.
Building Eye Care from the Ground Up
Andrew Koch mentoring local ECN Bernadino.
The program began in May 2002 when Andrew Koch made the first volunteer trip to East Timor during their Independence Celebrations. At that time, the newly independent nation had no eye care workers or resources, and the capital city of Dili bore the scars of extreme devastation from Indonesian militia actions.
“There was literally no eye care infrastructure when we first arrived,” the team said in a statement. “We started with treating eye trauma and disease, providing spectacles, and training local nurses in basic eye care skills.”
What began as a single volunteer mission evolved into an 18-year commitment that has fundamentally established the optometry profession in East Timor. The ProVision Optometry Team, supported by ProVision, worked in collaboration with Optometry Giving Sight, the East Timor Eye Program (ETEP), and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS).
Remarkable Impact Over Nearly Two Decades
From 2003 to 2019, more than 40 individual ProVision optometrists participated in the volunteer program, creating lasting change across East Timor:
- Provided comprehensive eye care to thousands of people in remote areas,
- Established eye clinics in all districts across the country,
- Trained local eye care workers and optical technicians,
- Launched the optometry profession in East Timor, and
- Supported the training of Timorese eye surgeons through collaboration with Australian ophthalmologists.
The program officially concluded in 2020, having successfully transitioned eye care services to local management under the Timor Leste Ministry of Health.
Honouring a Legacy of Leadership
Among those honoured posthumously was Micheal Knipe, whose contributions to optometry extended far beyond the East Timor program. In a distinguished career, Mr Knipe served as ProVision’s longest-standing chairman for 15 years and was elected to the National Council of Optometry Australia, serving a term as National President. His dedication was formally recognised in the 2015 Australia Day Honours with the citation “for significant service to optometry through executive roles with professional organisations and to the community of East Timor”. Following his passing in February 2019, the Micheal George Knipe AM Memorial address was established to honour his contribution to optometry, ProVision, and the welfare of people in Australia and overseas, and is presented at every ProVision biennial conference.
Recognition of Service and Sacrifice
President Jose Ramos Horta, who has supported the Australian eye care volunteers since the program’s inception, personally presented the medals at a ceremony that brought together volunteers from various humanitarian efforts in East Timor.
“It was a deeply moving and uplifting experience,” the optometrists said in the statement. “Gathering with fellow volunteers brought back memories of strain, struggle, fatigue, collaboration, and joyful celebration from our years of service in Timor Leste.”
Today, Total Eyecare continues its commitment to community service through the Visiting Optometry Scheme (VOS), providing eye care to remote, Aboriginal, and disadvantaged communities throughout Tasmania. This important work is also supported by other ProVision member optometrists across the country, continuing the tradition of volunteer service that defined the East Timor program.
