2012 Health Missions

2012 EYEsee Supports Planned 2012 Worldwide Health Missions

EYEsee is supporting several health missions planned for 2012 to countries in Asia, Pacific islands, Caribbean, Central America, and Africa. Proceeds from EYEsee’s 2012 Used Eyeglasses Collection Campaign will go towards supplying the eyeglasses needed for these health missions. EYEsee is grateful to donors for their support of EYEsee’s 2012 Campaign.

January 25 – February 10, 2012: Cambodia

This mission will be led by the Cambodian Health Professional Association of America (CHPAA). CHPAA is a non-profit organization that is exclusively humanitarian, working to promote health and social wellbeing through ongoing service and education to medically underserved Cambodians living in both in the U.S. and Cambodia.

CHPAA sends a team of healthcare professionals for a two-week trip to Cambodia as part of their annual medical mission. Their medical and dental mission to Cambodia this year is scheduled for January 25 to February 10, 2012. As part of their medical mission, they will be providing much needed eyeglasses to their patients. Last year’s medical mission saw approximately 5,000 patients but they were only able to provide about 300 eyeglasses due to their limited supplies. They hope to distribute more eyeglasses during this mission. They will have a station set up specifically for patients with vision problem where they will be fitted for eyeglasses.

For additional info, visit www.chpaa.org or contact Cambodian Health Professional Association of America (CHPAA), 1025 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90813, phone (562) 491-9292.

May 21 – 25, 2012: Macabebe, Pampanga Province, Philippines

This mission will be led by EyeCare WeCare Foundation, Inc., which runs twice a year vision medical missions to the impoverished areas in the Philippines using a ‘mobile clinic’ to serve patients in remote places in the islands. In the last six years, this foundation has served a total of 17,000 indigents in the Philippines. All beneficiaries received free eye exams, 99% received free eyeglasses, 46 received pterygium surgeries, 132 received cataracts surgeries, and many were treated with various eye disease. Since 2009, EYEsee has supplied EyeCare WeCare with eyeglasses.

Macabebe is located in the province of Pampanga which is north of the capital city of Metro Manila on the Luzon Island. The province of Pampanga was one of the hardest hit provinces during the three consecutive typhoons that caused flooding and landslides in the northern portions of Luzon in September 2009. The residents of this province are still rebuilding their lives from those calamities. This year’s medical mission will be EyeCare WeCare’s second mission to this province. In May 2010 they provided 1,411 indigents, where an average of 282 patients a day during their 5-day medical mission to Macabebe.

For additional info, visit www.eyecarewecare.org or contact EyeCare WeCare Foundation, Inc., 304 N. Talbot, Montesano, WA 98563, phone (360) 593-2353.

April−June, 2012: Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, Uganda

This mission trip will be led by PeopleWeaver, a U.S. non-profit organization which provides microcredit loans to women refugees living at the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda. This refugee camp has 16,000 people. Most of these women are Congolese widows and orphans caring for other orphans. Although their primary focus is microcredit, aid has also included funding for food, schooling, supplies, medicine, communication tools, and a cooperative grain mill. Last year, they added eyeglasses to their aid list from the eyeglasses donation that EYEsee provided PeopleWeaver.

EYEsee will once again support PeopleWeaver with a donation of eyeglasses when they travel this year to Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda and Bunagana in the Democratic Republic of Congo during their annual microcredit meeting.

For additional info, visit http://www.peopleweaver.com or contact PeopleWeaver, 4295 Niblick Dr., Longmont, CO 80503, phone (303) 870-7125.

June 6 – 12, 2012: Quirino, Luna, Apayao Province, Philippines

This mission will be led by the Agkakabsat International Movement (AIM), a U.S. non-profit whose purpose is to support developmental community services.

Apayao is the fourth poorest province in the Philippines, where owning a pair of eyeglasses is out of reach to so many who need them due to extreme poverty. AIM has arranged a medical and vision mission to Apayao on June 6-12, 2012 as part of the first homecoming of all sons, daughters, and friends of Apayao who are now working or living outside of Apayao in order to promote their giving back to the community effort. The Apayao provincial government and the Luna local governmental units are working together with AIM on this event.

The beneficiaries of this mission are senior citizens, unemployed parents, and poor students. The Apayao provincial department of social welfare reviewed the list of 8,000 indigents who are in dire need of prescription eyeglasses. The department was determined to prioritize senior citizens who are in need of eyeglasses and who are in dire poverty. All high school schools in the province where also requested to submit the names of 10 indigent students in need of prescription eyeglasses from each school.

The Quirino Women’s Organization will sort out and label the EYEsee’s donated eyeglasses. A private practicing optometrist in Apayao will conduct a mobile eye clinic on a number of Saturday’s for this project prior to the mission. The students’ eyeglasses will be distributed at the same time school supplies will be given as coordinated by the provincial department of education on June 11. A ‘Seniors Night Out’ is scheduled on June 8, where the distribution of the seniors’ eyeglasses will be the highlight of this affair.

For additional info about Agkakabsat International Movement (AIM), email naidapraugh@aol.com.

June 2012: Campamento, Olancho, Honduras

This mission will be led by the Santa Ana Mission, a ministry of St. Philip Catholic Church in Jonesboro, Georgia. Santa Ana Parish in the city of Campamento, Olancho, Honduras, is St. Philips sister parish. This year will be St. Philip’s sixteenth annual mission to Santa Ana Parish. EYEsee has supported the last two Santa Ana Mission trips.

During the June 7-14, 2011 Santa Mission, 700 indigents were seen and about 650 were fitted for eyeglasses. Most of the eyeglasses were sized and handed directly to people in remote and impoverished communities served by the Santa Ana Parish (most Hondurans in this area are very poor). In some cases, the volunteers gave 3-4 pairs of random sized reading eyeglasses to a wife for her husband who was working in the fields. This mission also donated 1,000 pounds of donated toys, handmade clothing, new and used clothing, footwear, school supplies, rosaries, necklaces, assorted medicine, instant film, and religious items for their parish.

For additional info, contact St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church, 591 Flint Rd., Jonesboro, GA 30238, phone (770) 478-1542.

December 2012: Higos de Hatillo and Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic

This mission will be led by the Latino Medical Association (LMSA), a non-profit student-run organization at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. This year’s health mission will be LMSA’s third annual trip to Higos de Hatillo and Jarabacoa in the Dominican Republic. EYEsee supported LMSA’s December 18-22, 2011 medical mission to the poor in Higos de Hatillo and Jarabacoa.

LMSA’s medical missions are run entirely by volunteer physicians and medical students from the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Their medical team provides free acute medical care, health education, and preventive medicine to children and adults many of whom have never been seen by a physician in their lifetime. They provide anti-parasitics, vitamins, hygiene products, and dental fluoride to the children. As part of their medical services, they provide free eye exams and dispense free eyeglasses to those who truly require eyeglasses.

For additional info, contact Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 4. Tampa, FL 33612, phone (954) 913-1084.

Lome, Togo (West Africa)

Organisation de Development de la Sante et de la Formation (ONG SAFO), a non-governmental organization in Togo. Togo is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. The capital city is Lome, where ONG SAFO is based. Togo has a population of approximately 6.7 million.

ONG SAFO runs a program that provides health care to the poor around the country. They work with a public hospital and some clinics and also have a mobile team that goes through the villages and rural areas. Last year, they received a donation of wheelchairs from a U.S. donor and they have since been providing services to disabled people. Every year, physicians from Denmark, Switzerland and Germany come to Togo to provide medical consultation and operate on hundreds of people who otherwise have no access to medical system.

Since 2007, ONG SAFO has two ophthalmologists available for consultation but they are realizing that people are not buying eyeglasses they need because they are very expensive. In rural areas, some people have been wearing the same eyeglasses for 25 years now. Many people never consult a doctor in their life. While ONG SAFO sometimes received eyeglasses from their donors, the quantity they receive (20 to 50) is very limited.

They are presently working to open a medical and social center and they have asked EYEsee for help in supplying them with used eyeglasses on an ongoing basis. EYEsee will support the work of ONG SAFO.

For additional info, contact Organisation de Development de la Sante et de la Formation (ONG SAFO), Rue Monata. Be Kpehenou, BP: 10279, Lome, Togo (West Africa), phone: 228 999 85 16.