Helena Ndume

Dr. Helena Ndume is a Namibian ophthalmologist, notable for her charitable work among sufferers of eye-related illnesses in Namibia. To date, Dr. Ndume has ensured that some 30,000 blind Namibians have received eye surgery and are fitted with intra-ocular lens implants free of charge. She is currently the head of the Ophthalmology department at Windhoek Central Hospital, Namibia’s largest hospital, and is one of only six Namibian ophthalmologists.

Helena Ndume was born in Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region. She studied medicine in Germany, before returning to Namibia in 1989 to complete a medical internship. She later returned to Germany, to specialise in ophthalmology at the University of Leipzig.

She is married, and has one son.

In 1995, Dr Ndume was introduced to Surgical Eye Expeditions International, and set about starting a project in Namibia. In August 1997, the first eye camp was held at Rundu, Kavango Region. Currently, four or five eye camps are held each year in different locations.

For six years, from 2001 to 2007, Dr Ndume was vice chairperson of the Namibia Red Cross Society.

In 2009, Dr Ndume was honoured with a humanitarian award by the NRCS for her work in restoring sight to those blinded by cataracts.

Dr. Ndume has volunteered with sight-restoring nonprofit SEE International since 1995. Since then, SEE and Dr. Ndume have collaborated to hold free week-long eye clinics in Namibia, typically twice every year. These clinics provide free eye surgeries for approximately 300 impoverished men, women, and children.

Dr. Helena Ndume and Jorge Fernando Branco Sampaio of Portugal, became the first recipients of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize on 22 June 2015.