Doctor finds her calling deep in the African jungle

When Dr Joyce Samoutou-Wong is asked to share some of her experiences of working with patients in Congo-Brazzaville, she has no end of inspirational stories to tell - each one a tale of a life transformed.

The 36-year-old Hongkonger moved to the country last year with her husband Henri, an eye surgeon and native of neighbouring Gabon, to set up the nation's first eye surgery clinic.

"Once, I went to our ward to look for a cataract patient we had operated on three days earlier. I couldn't find him anywhere, and then suddenly, I heard a voice say, 'Doctor, doctor, I'm here,'" she says, describing one such story. "I couldn't believe it - he looked absolutely nothing like the man I had met before the operation. He had been quiet and downcast, but afterwards, he was glowing and full of life."

The couple arrived in Impfondo, a town in the northeast with a population of about 20,000, in April last year. Since officially opening in January, the clinic has performed an average of 160 eye consultations a month.

"Our eye centre is like the ultimate makeover reality show for so many of our patients. They often say to us, 'Thank you for giving me my life back,'" she says.

"Their confidence, independence and dignity are restored. Many of them even look younger. The transformation extends to their families. Patients become breadwinners again. Family members can be released from care to work and to study."

Samoutou-Wong says the sense of reward she feels from her work is invaluable, but that there is a price to pay. She, her husband and their three children left their comfortable life in Britain to start anew in a strange country. They ran the medical centre and financed their living expenses from donations by supporters.