The optometry students at University of the West Indies (UWI) have recently organized a Student Volunteers for Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH) Chapter.  VOSH International exists to facilitate the provision and the sustainability of vision care worldwide for people who can neither afford nor obtain such care.  UWI SVOSH aims to enhance quality of life by providing basic eye and vision care to the underserved in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region while gaining a better understanding of the problems associated with vision. Through discussions among UWI lecturers, Dr. Sandra Wang-Harris, Dr. John Randall, Dr. Michele Ming, President of the Guyana Optometrist Association and Dr. Genalin Ang, Optometrist of Eye Care in Guyana, a short mission to Georgetown, Guyana was planned for January 16, 2012 to January 20, 2012. UWI SVOSH members visited Guyana and provided vision care in two rural areas. Over 250 people from two different towns outside of Georgetown were examined.  Our services included: refraction, dilated fundus examination, dispensing and consultation. Ophthalmic drops were prescribed and sunglasses and prescription glasses were dispensed. Prescription glasses were manufactured at no charge to the patients who needed them. VOSH Southeast of the USA provided spectacles, frames and lens blanks needed for the mission.

The UWI SVOSH team worked alongside twelve optometry students from the University of Guyana, Christian missionaries, Ministry of Health employees, Peace Corps, private optometrists and the Guyana Optometric Association.  Visits were made to the eye department at one of the hospitals in Guyana, two optometry clinics and the University of Guyana Health Sciences facilities. UWI SVOSH also participated in a local television show hosted by the Minister of Health to promote ophthalmic care.

Our trip to Guyana showed that this service was one of the best ways to learn our profession. The work involved proved to be complex, tiring and difficult but it was a worthwhile experience. It is simply impossible to gain the experience of working with so many real patients within the confines of our classrooms. It has been our most educational experience during our programme thus far.