"He showed an amazing aptitude for learning and was selected for a scholarship to study ophthalmology in Russia."
Over the years, the charity has raised funds to purchase equipment for the clinic, the latest was a Topcon operating microscope which allows surgeons to view the back of the retina during operations.
Mr Webber's wife Anne accompanied him to Phnom Penh to deliver the microscope and she enjoyed the experience he says.
"It was good for her to meet the people and see what my work has been about because she does comment that I'm overdoing it sometimes."
The Wanganui optometrist has not bounced back as quickly from his latest trip as he used to.
"This time it has taken me a while to get over the jet lag and the long days working in the humidity."
While in Cambodia, the 77-year-old worked in conditions that would be challenging for most people.
"On an average day we would see at least 100 patients for eye exams in the morning and in the afternoon we would do around 15 cataract operations and five other types of surgery.
"The number of people wasn't the problem - it was the heat and humidity that made it so tiring.
"It is the rainy season there now and temperatures are up around 30 degrees most days."
On previous trips Mr Webber has been accompanied by optometrist John Veale of Christchurch who first discovered Dr Vra's clinic when he visited Cambodia in 2004 and brought it to the attention of Rose Charity.
On his latest trip Mr Webber was accompanied by Dr Ewan Frazer from Hawke's Bay, a specialist in vitreo-retina treatment.
"It is a very specialised area that requires the utmost precision and it was very fortunate that he was able to come and use that expertise to assist the Cambodian team."
Expatriate Cambodian Henry Ngai, owner of the successful Australian company ABC Tissue, contributes US$40 for every eye surgery performed with a set target of 50,000 operations completed by 2018. Cambodians living in remote areas are now able to see better with help from Wanganui. Thanks to local donations, the Rose Sight Centre has been able to purchase a truck to transport patients to Phnom Penh for surgery.
The charity has also supported the training of opthalmic nurses to join Dr Vra's team.
"They are able to diagnose sight disabilities and prescribe lenses so they are now running a number of outreach clinics," said Mr Webber.
"Prescription eye glasses are made up with lenses imported from India and China. The lenses can be purchased quite cheaply from those places and we can glaze and fit them to a selection of frames the wearers can choose from."
Hang and Natalia Vra are opening a second centre in Phnom Penh which has provision for paying clients as well as those who cannot afford treatment.
The new site will also include a family home for the doctors and their children.
"To see the Rose Sight Centre where it is now compared to how it was when I first visited gives me immense satisfaction," Mr Webber commented.
Rose Charities chairwoman Trish Gribben said Mike Webber's work at the Rose Sight Centre has been "stupendous" and the charity now planned to focus attention closer to home, in the Pacific.
"We have already sent a grief and trauma counsellor, Liese Groot-Alberts, to Samoa after the tsunami there in 2009, and also sent her back to conduct workshops on palliative care with local doctors and nurses."
The charity has a simple mission statement of "being kind to people who have next to nothing".
It enables them to assist a broad range of initiatives and, with 100 per cent voluntary support, there are no overheads. Rose Charities support a number of New Zealand programmes - a refugee education programme, refugee family reunification, early intervention for children with multiple disabilities, a home for teenage mothers in Christchurch and a school breakfast programme in South Auckland.
It is unlikely that Mike Webber will become idle now that the centre in Phnom Penh no longer has such a need for his services.
He has also made many trips to the Cook Islands where he has been dispensing his optometry skill for decades. The people there have grown so attached to him that he is not just an honorary citizen, they have made him an honorary president. "They never believe me when I tell them I'm not coming back - See you next year Papa Mike," they say.
Mr Webber is interested in the relatively new field of "telemedicine".
"A surgeon working in Samoa could send a photograph to a specialist in Auckland and have a diagnosis within 20 minutes - it's wonderful stuff."
Mr Webber is also a trustee of the Whanganui River Institute and he has regular speaking engagements with groups such as Lions and Probus which might be enough for some people.
"I like to keep fit and I find I always need fresh mental stimulation," he says.
Whatever he decides to do next, putting his feet up does not sound like an option.
