|
|
|
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. Results of the 1st Annual Tennis Tournament March 19, 2011 Oak leaf Plantation , Orange Park, FL Upcoming Missions in January 2012 and June 2012 Results from June 2011 Mission Surgeries from the January 2011 Vision Mission
With ferry boats (left) or on very unimproved roads (right) we can reach most people on the 980 inhabited islands
Large throngs meet us at every venue, they are patient to see Dr for eye examination and for their graded eyeglasses
Cataract Surgery restores her vision and now she can see - She is so grateful for her free surgery she received 1/23/11
Analyn from Dayapan, Lermery, Batangas came to our free clinic on June 1, 2011 (see latest mission news) At age two her left eye was injured and she has had to live with corneal scar from then until this December 2011. Dr Weyrich arranged the surgery and for the ocular prosthesis (artificial eye) It was a long ordeal between getting clearances for her surgery to have her eye removed took over a dozen trips to Manila (12 hours each way) Fe Smith, a volunteer angel from Lemery, took her again and again until Analyn received her artificial eye that was made and donated by Dr. Antonio "Tony" Joson of Manila. Praise GOD!!!! All is well that ends well. I am sure that Analyn is the happiest 15 year old in the Philippines. She received her dream of a lifetime for Christmas. The Prior two medical vision missions, plus this one, have been in the Luzon (the largest and most populous) Either we take a 24 hour ferryboat to get there or we hop from island to island by small ferryboats to get to our destinations. The last mission (June 2011) in order for us to get to our venue. we had to use the small ferries and then traveled by land across the islands to get to our destination. This trip took three ferryboat rides each way to complete the mission. We drove from our foundation headquarters in Bago City for 2 hours, then sailed from Bacolod port on Negros Occidental Island, 2 hour ferry boat ride to Panay Island, 7 hour bus ride to Northern Panay Island, another ferry to Southern Mindoro Island (7 hour crossing) then 7 hour bus ride to Northern Mindoro, another ferry to Batangas (2 hours) in the Luzon, then 2 hour bus ride to Lemery, our first venue for the mission. With stopping for meals it took over 30 hours to make the trip one way (over 60 hours round trip) these are always our largest expenses during the medical mission, but the mobile clinic is the biggest blessing to the people so it is worth the expenses to get their free eye care to the indigents who live in the 990 inhabited islands. 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 June 2011 Medical Vision Mission and Examined 1,703 people and provided eyeglasses to 1,688 disadvantaged rural poor Filipino's. Bausch & Lomb once again donated Inter Ocular lenses, medications and surgical supplies for 60 cataract surgeries for this mission. The total eyeglasses prescribed and provided to the indigents, added to previous medical eye missions by the foundation brings a total of 17,036 people receiving free eyeglasses since 2005. We truly are "Delivering Gods Ultimate Vision Plan to the Poor." people waiting for their prescription eyeglasses blood pressures are taken for all patients
Derek Buchanan, a dispensing optician from Portland, Oregon who has relocated in the Philippines, has blessed the foundation with his skills for both the January 2011 mission and the June 2011 mission. This has made the huge job of dispensing much easier. Here a season veteran, Angelo Tagobader gathering readings on the auto refractor. He is also a computer repair person so he can also repair most all of our computerizes instruments 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) of which 990 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. This is by far the largest expense for most missions, costing around $3,500 per mission just on ferry boat fees for the mobile clinic, the 25 volunteer passengers as well as the port and dock fees. The foundation is now soliciting funds to build and equip another "Eye Clinic on Wheels" that will stay in the Luzon to offset the large expense to transport it on a ferry boat. We envision even the possibility of having a third mobile clinic to serve the large Southern Islands called the Mindanao.
Before each clinic day begins, Dr. Weyrich has the volunteers gather in a circle and pray for God's blessing on this mission and this mission day 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. 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.
Dr. Yin-Yin Aung performs slit lamp evaluation R.N. Janrey Gallendo assists. Right Dr. Mark Bernardo, using an indirect ophthalmoscope to observe the back of the eye, discovers diabetic retinopathy on this lady.
The digital Auto Air Puff Tonometer, donated by Dr. Michael Woods, has really brought our testing for eye pressures ( a test for glaucoma, to a much higher level.
INSIDE THE BUS THERE IS A COMPLETE EYE EXAM LANE, AN AUTO REFRACTOR; A BIOMICROSCOPE; AN HAND HELD AUTO REFRACTOR; AN HAND HELD AUTO TONOMETER, AND BOTH A DIRECT AND INDIRECT OPHTHALMOSCOPE . All the Registration and pre testing, plus 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. Last 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 $35,000 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 by restoring their vision, then please open up your heart and donate to the foundation. May GOD bless you.
|
Send mail to info@eyecarewecare.org
with questions or comments about this web site.
|
"Smiles on their faces and hopes in
their hearts" are always the final result of EyeCare WeCare Foundation's vision
missions
