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IN A COUNTRY (The Philippines) WITH 7,107 ISLANDS, HOW DO YOU HELP THE POOR PEOPLE SEE BETTER? YOU BRING THE MOBILE EYE CLINIC TO THEM. Latest Medical Vision Results from May 2010 Surgeries from the May 2010 Vision Mission Recent News Articles In AOA News USA and The Visayan Starlife Sunday, Philippines
We use large ferry boats (left) or small ferry
boats (right) to transport mobile
clinic to the 880 inhabited islands
Left, assigning numbers to each being registered Right, people await to enter the bus for their eye exam
This is the ferry boat we took from Manila to Negros Manila bay from the ferry boat Eyecare Wecare Foundation, Inc.; based in the United States; registered 501 (c) (3) not for profit; Christian centered; international organization; that does medical vision missions and provides eye examinations ; eye and general medications; eyeglasses and provides for eye surgeries all at no cost to the prescreened indigents. The foundation has a branch office in the Philippines that is registered with the Philippine government under SEC (Security Exchange Commission) It is currently conducting all of the vision clinics there. The foundations target population is the rural poor who do not have access to, nor financial resources for, vision services. The foundation has no paid administrators or staff, everyone volunteers. The foundation just finished its second Medical Vision Mission in May of 2010 and provided eyeglasses to 1,411disadvantaged rural poor Filipino's. This is a record for a 5 day medical vision mission. This total added to previous medical eye missions by the foundation brings a total of 12,499 people receiving free eyeglasses since 2005. Many also have received eye medications and referrals for eye surgery that are preformed free by our partners in the Philippines "Resources for the Blind" We truly are "Delivering Gods Ultimate Vision Plan to the Poor." people waiting for their prescription eyeglasses blood pressures are taken for all patients THE MISSION When President / Founder Dr. James H. Weyrich began the foundation with his focus on helping the poor people in that Philippines. He envisioned to start a clinic and have the people come to the clinic. Then he realized that the Philippines is one of the most challenging countries of the world to provide quality health care. The reason being it is separated by so many islands (7,107 Islands) around 1,000 are inhabited. Only the larger islands have access to health care and vision care. The poor people that live outside of the few larger islands can only get treatment by taking public transportation to the ferry boat terminal, take a ferry boat to the port of an island that has an eye doctor. From there, they have to take public transportation from the ferry to the doctors office, pay for the exam and then pay for the glasses. Wait until the glasses are fabricated and then proceed home. Most cannot afford even the first public transportation ride let alone paying for vision services. That is the beauty of having a self contained "Eye Clinic on Wheels" We can ferry the 40 foot converted bus to most of the islands and provide these services to the indigents on the remote islands. We received tremendous assistance on the last May 2010 from Negros Navigation, they discounted the fare to ship the mobile clinic from Bacolod to Manila (24 hour crossing each way) plus discounted the 25 foundation volunteered for this mission. The foundation is now soliciting funds to build and equip another "Eye Clinic on Wheels" that will stay in the Luzon and even a third one to stay in the Mindanao. IMPACT STATEMENT The WHO (World Health Organization) lists uncorrected refractive error and the second leading cause of blindness in the world with only cataracts topping the list. This where EyeCare WeCare foundation is helping in a large way. The mobile clinic carries with it on every vision mission over 50,000 pairs of graded recycled eyeglasses. Most of the indigents can have a pair of eyeglasses that is very close to what they need, in a matter of minutes following the examination. However, at times we cannot. That is why an optical lab is needed to make eyeglasses for the difficult prescriptions that cannot be found in the huge inventory of donated eyeglasses. It already has acquired and shipped to the Philippines some lab equipment to edge uncut lenses but it needs surfacing equipment and lens blanks. Another project is to have a small transport bus to take the volunteers and the indigents to and from the mobile clinic . The Foundation wants to reach out to the poor people of the world and to restore their vision. The foundation appeals to individuals, civic organizations, religious organizations, fraternal organizations, corporate organizations, Native American Casino's and other philanthropic foundations to help it with its projects.
INSIDE THE BUS THERE IS A COMPLETE EYE EXAM LANE, AN AUTO REFRACTOR; AN HAND HELD AUTO REFRACTOR; AN HAND HELD AUTO TONOMETER, ALSO AN DIRECT AND INDIRECT OPHTHALMOSCOPE . THE EYEGLASSES ARE DISPENSED OUTSIDE THE BUS.
THE FOUNDATION NEEDS YOUR HELP The foundation has fallen victim to the economic slowdown. Most all other non profit foundation are experiencing similar problem. Most of the foundation's funding has been either eliminated or greatly reduced. EyeCare WeCare Foundation is very frugal with the funding that it receives. This year 2010 the foundation conducted two medical vision mission and it was able to provide graded eyeglasses to over 3,800 Filipino indigents. The foundation was able to do all of what it did last year with less than $30,000 monetary contributions. It is able to do this because it is a 100% voluntary foundation and is extremely frugal with the funds received. If everyone who visits this website would feel moved to donate $20 or more to the foundation , the foundation would sustain all programs and even help to ship two ocean containers full of medical supplies to the Philippines. Please. If you want to make a difference for the less fortunate and help them function at a higher level by restoring their vision, then please open up your heart and donate to the foundation. May GOD bless you.
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Send mail to info@eyecarewecare.org
with questions or comments about this web site.
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"Smiles on their faces and hopes in
their hearts" are always the final result of EyeCare WeCare Foundation's vision
missions
