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From 1997 until present, more than $1,000,000 was raised from phlanthropists and events such as climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and cross country cycling by members of VOSH-PA who purchased land and built the Vincent Pescatore Eye Hospital in the Peten jungle region of Guatemala, naming it in honor of an American missionary. Satellite clinics in Jutiapia and Guatemala City provide eye examinations, eye surgery, and prescriptive eyewear.
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| 2005 VERAS project, $10,000 Funded by VOSH/International to VOSH-Southeast who collaborated with the UNESCO Chair in Visual Health, training school teachers, nurses and healthcare workers to screen 2400 children for vision defects and refractive error. Twenty five teachers received 25 hours of training in Grenada, Nicaragua to strengthen a network of visual health workers to ensure sustainability. Final professional examination and prescription of spectacles were provided free for 600 children during three year training program. |
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| In 2007 a grant of $15,000 from Michigan Rotary Clubs and World Medical Relief to VOSH/International provided a container of used eye equipment for optometry students in Ghana. Prior to the shipment stud The Pacific School of Optometry joined Ghanaian students in outreach programs. Then in 2009 Ghanaian students and faculty opened a day clinc in the market district of Kumasi, providing low cost eyecare with the donated equipment. |
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2009-2010 pending a grant of $59,000 for IAM-NOOR Eye Program in Kabul, Afghanistan to develop ophthalmic mid level human resources; which will be allocated for the primary eye care program and a training program for health care workers in Primary/Preventative Eye care targeting needy regions. Students will have a one year course in primary eye care with an additional year of study for selected students. Regular “day clinics” will be held in villages within one hour of the city of Jalalabad. “day clinics” will include primary ophthalmic treatment, prevention of blindness education and referral advice as a partnership with VOSH-ONE.
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| 2008 a grant of $10,000 for new ophthalmoscopes, retinoscopes, trial lens sets and trial frames from VOSH/International and Optometry Giving Sight to VOSH-Southeast for students attending optometry schools in Peru who particpate in eye care missions. |
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Nov. 2009, Dr. Ellis Potter, and Mr. Bob Hawk, VOSH-KS and Rotary teach Indian students the Pix method of making affordable eyeglasses. It contains a bending jig, made of a 2x4 with cutting groves, bending nails; a needle nose pliers, and rudimentary hack saw and lenses. The frame and temples are constructed and assembled using the bending apparatus. The lenses are cut in two, sanded for edge smoothness, notched and mounted it the frame. The process takes about 15 minutes and can be learned rather quickly. Eyeglasses cost less than 50 cents. |
2008 until present, Technical Transfer Program Supported by a $20,000 grant from the Esther Kahn Foundation. IMEC and VOSH-Southeast for collecting, restoring and shipping used and new equipment to schools of optometry and clinics in developing countries.
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| A five year grant of $350,000 from Walman Optical to VOSH/International funded an optical lab and eye clinic in Managua, Nicaragua to provide primary eye care and affordable eyeglasses and eye surgery to the poor . The clinic opens January 2010 will also be a training center for public health nurses who serve 10 hospitals in Nicaragua. Funds will also support the establishment of an optometry school at the National University in January 2011. |
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VOSH Indiana University established a permanent eye clinic in Guanajato, Mexico. In recent years, VOSH members have made an annual trip to Guanajuato, Mexico (where the IU School of Optometry manages an eye care center), seeing nearly 3000 patients in less than a week's time. Indiana University's Student VOSH chapter is open to all optometry, optician, optometric technicians, and vision science students. |
