Eye Care with Vision free to underserved nations

We are are a group of individuals including eye doctors that organize eye care trips to provide free eyeglasses to peoples in underserved regions of the world. Eye Care with Vision is what we call our group. We are focused on getting glasses to peoples and places where the opportunity to get glasses just does not exist.

Members of our group got a taste for this sort of service by participating in trips to Alajuela, Costa Rica and Lago Peten Itza, Guatemala.

Since then, we have organized and carried out our own trip to Lago Atitlan, Guatemala, which included care at an orphanage and to various villiage/towns around the lake, and a another trip Ha'apai, Tonga.

We have been especially touched by the need in Tonga where there is only one doctor among the 170+ islands and nine nurses that try to help him. The eyeglasses that we know of among all of the islands are used eyeglasses donated from Lion's Clubs or similar organizations. There are no glasses made in Tonga. The nurses are trained to measure glasses prescriptions and match patients to the closest prescription available from among the used glasses available. On the more remote islands that we visited, we were able to bring the first supply of used glasses to that island ever. While we were there, together with the optometrists from our group, over 2500 patients had their eyes examined and about 2000 pairs of glasses were dispensed over the course of the week. We left a supply of 6000 more glasses of various prescriptions. We are grateful to the Roanake, Virginia Lions Club sorting center for their generous work and contribution.

We would love to provide the people of Tonga with more glasses from the Lions Club, but our real dream is to provide the equipment needed to make glasses at an inexpensive price on the islands and train the nurses how to use them.

This dream is lofty. This equipment is expensive. Flights are expensive. In the past, individuals have paid their own travel expenses. Those individuals typically take very little personal belongings and check an 80-pound box of glasses as luggage to reduce costs and maximize the benefit of their flight.

The pandemic slowed our efforts significantly, but we are preparing for another trip in 2022.

We have a corporate sponsor that will 100% match any and all donations made, up to a total of $50,000 per year. And we are seeking a donation from a manufacturing company to donate the edging machine(s) or to provide them at reduced cost.

We promise to use your donations responsibly and with purpose to provide Eye Care with Vision to the peoples we serve whether in Tonga, Guatemala, or another region in need.

Thanks for your contribution to this worthy cause.