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From December 1st-9th, 2012 there will be a medical eye mission to St. Boniface Hospital in rural Fond des Blancs, Haiti. This is our 5th medical mission there and it is very safe. We are looking for optometrists, opticians, ophthalmologists, & volunteers to join us. Accomodations are in the hospital residence which is clean and simple with indoor plumbing. Food is prepared especially for American dietary concerns. www.haitihealth.org Contact Rita Russo at 781-762-4391 or rita.a.russo@verizon.net Trip fee approximately $300 plus airfare. Trip fee covers all expenses in Haiti, ie. transportation to and from airport, and all room and board. NO additional expenses.

Hello, We are looking for optometrists to come to Haiti for a medical mission June 22nd-July 2nd, 2012. We've been doing eye missions since 2007. We work in a clean, well supplied clinic in a beautiful setting, up in the mountains. The area is extremely safe and we've never had any problems. We stay in a beautiful hotel equipped with wi-fi, a swimming pool and a bar. Volunteers can stay in single or double rooms that have indoor plumbing, hot water, balconies with great views, etc. We are well fed with delicious Haitian food throughout the week. Most of the hospital and clinics are air-conditionned or at least have powerful fans. For our last weekend, we treat ourselves with staying a beautiful resort over looking Jacmel bay. If anyone is interested please email me ASAP!

Hello, We are still looking for Optometrists, Opticians and Ophthalmologists for the upcoming Remote Area Medical® clinic in Sewanee, TN. The clinic is May 19-20, 2012 and will be held at the University of the South. It is about 30 minutes northwest of Chattanooga, TN which has a good sized airport. There is lodging at the University. If you are interested and available, please let me know and I will get you more info. Thank you for your consideration, Laura KirschenmannVolunteer CoordinatorRemote Area Medical®1834 Beech StreetKnoxville, TN 37920(865)579-1530

We are looking for more OD's for a VOSH PA mission to northern Haiti Aig 25-Sept 1, 2012. I have been to this location in Milot, Haiti five times and it is very safe. We are met at the airport in Cap Haitin in Northern Haiti by the hospital staff and they take great care of us all week. We stay in a locked and guarded compound, and food is delicious. We are taking a cataract surgeon and work with a another OMD who provides laser surgery for our glaucoma patients. It is always an incredible experience and I hope you can join us.

Hello, my name is Peter Limburg. I am a senior at Abington Senior High School and a volunteer for Keiyo Soy Ministries. KSM is a great organization which works in the Keiyo Soy Valley of Kenya. It has constructed a 17 mile pipeline to bring spring water down from the mountains all across the valley, built over ten schools, and fostered a great relation with the people. This summer we are planning a trip to distribute eyeglasses at three of the schools. The dates are August 8th through the 19th. We have collected a little over 500 pairs and measured them as well. Most of these are readers. Our group is eight people. We have no prior experience with distributing eye glasses. So,we are looking for someone with experience to help us see this through. If an eye doctor goes with us, everything would go much smoother. At the end of the trip we will go to Masai Mara for safari and a fun time. The people of Keiyo Soy Valley have offered to pay part of the way for the eye doctor, to make it easier for him to come. Thank you very much. I realize this is coming in late, but please consider going. Peter Limburg

If anyone is in need of some frames please let me know. I can get these shipped to you at no cost.

Hello, My name is Rosalynn Nguyen and I am one of the board members for a University of Washington, student-led, non-profit organization called the Vietnam Health Clinic (VHC).  Our group consists of about 50-60 student volunteers and health professionals that travel to the rural areas of Vietnam for two weeks from late August to early September to conduct mobile clinics.  The clinic includes the following components, intake, triage, clinical consultation, pharmacy and pharmacy consultation, as well as a dental consultation.  In these two weeks of clinic we usually see about 1800-2000 patients. This will be VHC's fourth year in the running, and we are planning to incorporate our first optometry component.  We currently trying to recruit one or two optometrists and/or ophthalmologists to come along with us and work with our volunteers to provide eye health care in means of medicine and/or eye glasses or sunglasses.  I was referred to by Jeff Forrey and Betsy Harris of VOSH N.W. to inquire if it would be possible for you to send out a request for a volunteer optometrist out of the VOSH international membership for us.  Our travel plans for clinic are to leave Seattle on August 23, 2012 to Vietnam, and to return to Seattle September 8, 2012.  It would be great if we could get an optometrist to be present the whole two weeks, but we realize this may be difficult and we are able to accommodate for health professionals that can only work with us a fraction of the time.  Therefore, if you would be able to send out this request for us that would be greatly appreciated and if you need any further information from us please let me know.  I can be reached via email at rosalynn@vnhealth.org or by my cell phone (425) 802-6191 at anytime.  In addition, feel free to visit our website www.vnhealthclinic.org  for a glimpse of what we've been doing.  On behalf of VHC, I would like to thank you Dr. Zeltzer for your time and we hope to hear from you soon.

Perhaps you would consider sending a team to Dong Ha Vietnam to work with our organization there: Global Community Service Foundation. This month we completed building a school/dorm for approximately 50 children who are blind or visually impaired. In the process of this effort we learned that there are also approximately 400 other children living in the remote areas of Quang Tri Province who have never seen a doctor to have their eyes evaluated. The estimate is that 70% of the children would not have to be blind if they received early intervention. We are working on raising the funds to support a survey of the district to identify those children. When we find them we will need optometric help. Would you consider partnering with us? Contact: Rosemary Strange c- 202-375-9555 Adviser to Global Community Service Foundation 3907 Laro Court Fairfax, VA 22031 www.globalcommunityservice.org Fairfax, VA 22031

Hello. I just heard of your organization in the last week. I used to work in the optical industry. I have been going to Haiti since 1999 and my husband since 1997. We are involved with a Haitian national who is an overseer of 11 churches and 5 schools in the St. Marc area. He also travels into the mountainous region around St. Marc. I would like to know how to get someone to come to St. Marc and if possible, into the mountains. I realize the need is great everywhere. It would be a blessing to get someone into this area. Do you already have people going into St. Marc? We have mission teams that go down on a regular basis. Is there any other information I need to gather or know before pursuing this idea any further? Thank-you for respoinding. Liz

Hello, I am the president of Prism Optical. Our company performs eye examinations and provided eye wear to most of the villages in remote areas of Alaska. I am interested in sponsoring one of my opticians to do a volunteer trip to one of your clinics. I would like to receive any information on how I would get this set up. Ideally we would be interested in a trip that falls in the months of June or July, but would consider other times as well. Our opticians are all trained to work at remote villages and I believe would be an asset to have at one of your clinics. Looking forward to your response. Ron Gitlan Prism Optical 800-637-4104

In need of OD'S and students for may 25 to june 3rd medical mission to Cuzco. We will be the eye examining part of a bigger mission with Homewood Illinois Rotary. There will be a side trip to Macha PIcchu and R&R will be in Arequipa for those interested.

Opt. and Vis.Sci. March edition will include a paper from Wilson, Cronji, Frick and Holden that discusses the real costs of using recycled spectacles and concludes by discouraging the use of recycled spectacles. This should be required reading for the VOSH chapters still making use of used specs. Here is the link to the abstract and the full paper is available on line now if you are an academy member. http://journals.lww.com/optvissci/Abstract/publishahead/Real_Cost_of_Recycled_Spectacles.99428.aspx Peace, Jerry

I was made aware of VOSH a few years ago while on a mission trip in Esteli, Nicaragua with my church. I told myself then that my next mission would be doing what I know best, which is fitting eyeglasses. I have seen that there are occasions when an optician is needed. I only want to go where I can be put to good use. There doesn't appear to be an active chapter in Florida at the moment, which is where I'm from, so please let me know if and when there is a need. Sincerely, Robin Morrison

Hello, I am organizing an eye mission to Haiti this March 2012 to provide eye care to the underprivileged.  The dates somewhat flexible based on what works the best for all who can volunteer.   The dates will be either from March 11-17 or March 24-30.  We need optometrist, opticians, & volunteers. We will go to 2 separate areas, providing eye care for 2 days in each area.  We will spend 1 additional day seeing the people in the field.   If any of these days work for you, please let me know. Thanks and feel free to email or call with any questions or if you need more information. Anshu Chandra, OD 518-229-7494

Lions in Sight clinic in Peru - April, 2012 is in need of 3 ODs for the April 23-27, 2012 clinic in Lima, Peru. The only cost to the ODs would be their airfare - the Lima Lions will provide accommodations, meals and transportation for all team members. We are tentatively scheduled to fly to Lima on Saturday, April 21 for a 4 day clinic in Lima (Monday, April 23 to Friday, April 27, with a rest day on Wednesday, April 25). From there, we will fly to Cusco on Saturday, April 28 for a visit to Machu Picchu. Most team members will probably return home on May 2 or 3. We will be working with the local Lions to plan this post-clinic trip to Machu Picchu. Interested doctors can contact me at the e-mail address below. Joy Sarver, OD, MPH drjsarver@gmail.com (925) 932-4310 phone

Proposed date 4/13/12 for Tobago and South Trinidad sponsored by Lions Club, District 60A. For more information Lion Annette or nigel@islandeyestt.com

Optometrist needed to join Eye Team to Haiti March 18 to 24, 2012 at St. Boniface Hospital in Fond des Blancs. Stay in hospital residence; clean, comfortable, indoor plumbing, food prepared especially for American dietary concerns. I would like to work with someone to bring a team to our hospital in Haiti once a year.www.haitihealth.org Contact Rita Russo at 781-762-4391 or rita.a.russo@verizon.net

Name: Catherine Todd Email: ctodd1000@gmail.com Message: Do you have groups coming to Guatemala? We are at Lake Atitlan and hoping to find optometry services to aid the Mayan beaders and artisans that I work with here. I have added your organization to our free online database. Please send info for updates or corrections. Thanks, Catherine Todd LakeAtitlanDirectory.com

I'm a recent graduate in optics and Optometry and I would be very interest in your initiative to partecipate as a volunteer. I studied in Italy, Milan-Bicocca University and currently I am doing a Master in Optometry and Vision in Madrid/Spain. If there were any plans to leave for the summer-autumn please let me know, at the moment I'm out of work. Yours sincerly, Dr.Marianna Auma Atim Nyeko