In the span of his 33-year practice, Dr. Mark Cichowski restored the vision of thousands of Whidbey residents.

The first ophthalmologist to set up shop on the island, Cichowski recalls the past three decades as fulfilling in numerous respects.

Beyond the doors of the Whidbey Eye Center, though, the doctor and his wife, Jan, an R.N., have also made over 30 trips abroad, bestowing the gift of sight upon thousands of individuals in developing countries from Myanmar to the Ivory Coast.

The couple made the first of such regular medical missionary trips in 1977, accompanying Jan Cichowski’s parents, who worked as medical missionaries in Nigeria.

Somewhat serendipitously, the couple got stuck in a wind storm near an eye hospital while on their way back to the U.S. When the dust settled and the plane was boarded, the couple’s conversation on that long trip home consisted of ways in which they could do more to help those in need.

Since then, they have visited Myanmar, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Colombia, Haiti, Kenya, Gabor, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Zambia and Ghana.

“Serving is very important to us,” Mark Cichowski said.

“It really, truly becomes a passion,” Jan Cichowski said.

While on these trips, Mark Cichowski most often performs eye surgery in eye hospitals and clinics while Jan Cichowski assists. Occasionally, the two take solo trips.

They pay for their travels out of their own pockets, but they often also receive donations of funds and medical supplies from companies and community members.

They are not paid for their services; the hospital or clinic typically charges based on a sliding scale for those who are able to contribute, in order to cover overhead costs.

It isn’t unusual, he said, for a population of 25 million people to rely upon five eye surgeons.

They have also helped to set up eye clinics, and Mark Cichowski has trained between 10-20 eye surgeons to perform manual surgeries in their own communities.

Such surgical techniques have largely fallen by the wayside in the United States, Mark Cichowski said, though they are necessary in many regions. This is in part due to the economic limitations of developing nations, and the inability of their medical facilities to afford new, state-of-the art technology. But also, he noted, some cases are so severe that a manual technique is the only way to treat the condition.

Issues like glaucoma, cataracts, infections and trauma from injuries are all too common, he noted.

Mark estimates that 44 million people suffer from blindness that could be cured given proper care.

The issue is that many people do not have access to such care, he said. The majority of the time, he said, this is due to economic limitations — the choice between feeding their children or receiving treatment for an infection, disease or injury.

“When you’re blind, you’re pretty much taken out of society,” said Mark Cichowski. The couple added that, when a person becomes blind, they usually require a full-time caregiver, often a child or grandchild.

Subsequently, these children’s lives are often halted, disallowing them to go to school or work.

One of the most remarkable cases the couple recalled involved a girl who was ecstatic to return to school once her grandparent’s vision had been restored by the Cichowskis.

“A lot of times, it is extremely humbling. You wish you had every skill and every resource to treat their needs, but you can’t,” Mark said.

What they can do, he said, is act in a small way as ambassadors of the United States and Christianity.

A sign posted above the door of a hospital in the Himilayas read “We treat, Jesus heals,” Jan Cichowski recalled. That is the essence of their mission, she said.

Mark Cichowski recently sold his practice to Dr. Michael Mequio and said he plans to “cut back” in order to devote more time to medical missionary trips abroad.

“It frees me up, but I know the patients I have here will be treated very, very well,” said Mark Cichowski.

“We’ve had a wonderful career here on Whidbey Island.”

The couple will be making a trip to Zambia later this month.

“Serving is very important to us,” said Dr. Cichowski.

“In restoring vision, our vision is restored,” said Jan Cichowski.