Working with VOSH to Change Lives in Nicaragua

Dr. Karen Norrick and Dr. Jennifer Eberlin, who practice at our Fort Wayne – Dupont Road, Michigan City and La Porte locations, enjoy the chances they get to volunteer with VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity). VOSH provides the gift of vision and quality eye health care to people worldwide who can’t afford or obtain such care. This volunteer group supports sustainable eye clinics, optometry schools and optometry educators in areas lacking sufficient eye care.

Our doctors, along with two of their children, set out on a journey to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, with a group of optometrists, optometry students and volunteers. They spent a week making a difference in many lives. Throughout the course of the trip, the group saw over 4,600 patients, who were provided with glasses and sunglasses. Patients with the need for their cataracts and glaucoma to be treated were referred to specialists. 

Over 2.5 billion people in the world need glasses due to refractive error. Of those with clinical need, 1.1 billion, or one in seven people, lack access to glasses. The lack of vision translates to failing at school, jobs, health and personal lives. We travel the developing world and the United States providing free quality vision care services through short-term clinics to those who need it. We also work to develop sustainable programs and local optometric capacity in the developing world in order to help local communities continue to provide quality vision care. – VOSH.org

We loved seeing this awesome group represent Midwest Eye Consultants. Our doctors make an impact in their local communities, while also serving the global community.