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Severo Sanchez and the RiMac Rotary of Peru I met Severo and his friends on a VOSH-Florida mission to Yungay in July of 2003, in the Andes of Peru, . Severo had traveled by bus on a 10 hour trip to join us and help with the examinations. He brought with him several of his recent graduates from his school, Eurohispanol School of Optometry and Science. They paid their own expenses and worked 10 hour days for the opportunity to bring eyecare to this remote and very poor community. I found out later they had traveled long distances at great expense to work with and learn from O.D.s from the U.S. Severo and his fellow O.D.s from Peru are working to improve the training and improve the quality of the service they provide. The lack of equipment for quality exams and training purposes seems to be the biggest roadblocks. Currently the training iinvolves doing refractions with a trial lens set and prescribing glasses. They also are trained to edge and mount lenses in frames.
Since 2003 we have worked with Severo and his students on four missions to Ica, Pisco, Ville El Salvador and Machay sponsored by VOSH-Florida and John Gehrig and myself went on a RiMac Rotary and Eurohispanol mission to Huanusco. As observers we were most impressed with their operation. In July we plan another visit to Ville El Salvadore with VOSH-SOS. We saw almost 4,000 during those missions and Severo’s missions this year saw over 9,000 patients. Most of the students can not afford a basic set of scopes to do exams as well as trial lens sets and retinoscopic racks. The basics cost $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 in a country where the average income is $4.00 a day. In the past we have arranged to give the school a number of scopes, but every student should have a complete set of scopes, trial lens set and a rack to establish a practice. The school has been open for 7 years and has a total of 155 students in day and evening classes. The school had 10 sets of scopes for the students to perform clinicals and there are 8-10 sets owned by students. In addition, there is 1 phoroptor, 8 trial lens sets, 10 trial lens frames, 4 keratometers, 4 slit lamps and 8 lensometers. Very few students can afford a set of scopes, trial lens set or a phoroptor after graduation, which would cost upward $5,000.00 in Peru. Therefor they are forced to work in an optica, which may have some equipment, but not what you would see in the U.S. Several thousands of dollars would not only inpact the level of education in the school, but would change the level of eyecare in Lima and eventually in all Peru. Selected students would receive a set of scopes upon graduation for a promise to participate in mission trips with VOSH-SOS or VOSH groups from the U.S. A set of used scopes cost about $200.00-225.00 and a 104 lens trial lens set cost $100.00. For $325.00, a student would leave school with more equipment than 95% of the O.D.s and O.M.D.s in Peru Severo and the Instituto de Investiacion y Desarrolo, an NGO Severo works with recently opened a clinic in Huancayo. It is about six hours by bus and is on the other side of the Andes mountains from Lima. The clinic opened on August 1, 2006 with one O.D. and two fulltime employees. They have three rooms: waiting, exam and dispensing. Their equipment includes: scopes, trial lens set and a slit lamp. They hope to add cataract surgery if they can get a microscope and A scan. The students will rotate in the clinic during their third year. I will propose twinning the Belleview Rotary of the U.S. with the RiMac Rotary of Lima, Peru and fund the purchase of sufficient equipment to guarantee the students of Eurohispanol SOS will be able to train and provide the eyecare for “Operation Vision”. Any help would be appreciated and will lead to improved eyecare for thousands of poor that would otherwise never see a eyecare professional. Donors are too numerous to mention, but I must list: Ocala
Recycling Center Eye Medical
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Severo
is Chairman of the project “Operation Vision” in his
Rotary Club, Ri Mac, District 4450. Severo and his fellow instructors
at the school along with a group of third year students travel long
distances to provide eyecare missions at the request of Rotary Clubs,
Lion Clubs and Church groups. In some cases, they use recycled glasses
from the U.S., but mostly provide prescription glasses in donated
frames.