Imagine a poor, remote village. They have a small school, just a room or two where all the village children gather for lessons how to read. There is one schoolteacher, but now she is challenged with making out the print in her book. Just a pair of reading glasses could change that.
Then there is the pastor, an elderly man who owns the only Bible in the village, but now he can no longer read the print. MEDICO has encountered both these cases. In each community we visit, the need for vision services is enormous, widespread, and vital to the lives of the people.
Since 1990, MEDICO clinical teams have worked in rural, remote communities where there are few, if any, health care services. There are almost never any vision services. Our eye care specialists have the availability of a wide assortment of donated prescription and reading glasses to distribute. Specialized equipment helps to provide the best care possible when examining patients. Perhaps all that is needed is a fitting of reading glasses. Perhaps the need is referral to greater care in the nearest town or city, which MEDICO can help provide.
As an eye care professional, you know the dramatic value of your skills. In rural Honduras, a week of volunteer service could give sight back to patients who would otherwise be resigned to a life without.