Sherpas helped by Aussie optometrists

Six Australian optometrists are heading to Nepal to bring basic eye care to locals in the impoverished Sherpa villages.

"Last year we had to turn away people who had walked four hours to see our team of optometrists for treatment," says Sydneysider Shaun Chang, founder of Eyes4Everest.

The team leaves Australia on Saturday and will be in the Himalayas until October 24, with the trip being shot by a New Zealand documentary crew.

Mr Chang, who was born in Taiwan, schooled in Auckland and did his tertiary studies in Australia, first travelled with colleagues to the area last year.

As well as testing the eyes of children, they went to the hospital set up by Sir Edmund Hillary and trained staff in vision screening.

The latest trip will include a `virtual ophthalmologist' where pathology seen by the team will be relayed back to eye surgeons in New Zealand.