Elimination of Avoidable Childhood Blindness in Guatemala Through Endowment Funding
Over the past 12 years the Volunteer Optometric Service to Humanity of PA(VOSH/PA) has funded $2.3 million to build a solid eye care infrastructure throughout Guatemala that is the sole provider of all eye care services to the poorest families that includes 3.7 million children.
Three eye clinics called the Pescatore/Visualiza eye clinics are now sustainable for all adult eye care without need for outside funding.
All children under age of 14 years old receive free eye care funded by VOSH/PA benefactors.
Each year VOSH/PA benefactors funds $100K to provide 4000 indigent children with free eye glasses and 200 children with sight-saving surgery.
An endowment of $2.5 million is needed to assure the perpetual right to essential eye care for all indigent Guatemalan children.
Background
The Volunteer Optometric Service to Humanity of Pennsylvania (VOSH/PA) mission is to build sustainable eye clinics in developing countries by empowering local eye specialists, funding essential ophthalmic infrastructure and establishing partnerships with like-minded agencies. In 1994, VOSH/PA met Vincent Pescatore, a Catholic missionary, who founded orphanages in Central America. Under Vince’s guidance and inspiration, VOSH/PA established the first regional eye clinic in the jungle region of
Guatemala. Tragically, Vincent Pescatore died in a plane crash en route to building a new orphanage in Honduras shortly after the inception of the first eye clinic. Since then, the members of VOSH/PA have been diligently carrying on his legacy. With the support of hundreds of benefactors, VOSH/PA has funded $2.3 million to build three eye clinics in Guatemala called the Pescatore/Visualiza eye clinics.
In the past 8 years VOSH/PA has funded free eye glasses and eye surgery for over 14,000 children. The goal of the Pescatore/Visualiza eye clinics is to work toward the “elimination of all avoidable blindness” in Guatemala by the year 2020, in accordance with the World Health Organization global initiative called VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.
The Pescatore/Visualiza clinics are financially sustainable for all adult eye services. The clinics utilize a sliding-scale fee system whereby those patients who are able to pay for services do so based on family income and the very poor receive free care. All children under the age of 14 receive free eye care.
NEED
The Pescatore/Visualiza clinics are the only provider of free eye glasses and surgery to 3.7 million children who live below the poverty line. Among children in this population there are an estimated 114,000 children (less than 14 years of age) in need of eye glasses, and 4,800 of these children are in need of surgical care. It is impossible for “working poor” parents to pay for their children’s health expenses. There are no government programs that provide free eye care services for the materially poor. Each year our pediatric outreach programs in rural and urban Guatemala identify 4,000 indigent children with a need for eye glasses and 200 children who need sight-saving surgery.
Each year VOSH/PA raises$100,000 to fund the care for these 4,200children at the Pescaore/Visualiza eye clinics. The majority of those funds are raised by the annual Mt Kilimanjaro Climb for Sight. VOSH/PA does not have the capacity to maintain this level of funding forever. Hence, an endowment toassure this critical pediatric care in perpetuity is being established.
THE CAMPAIGN PURPOSE
A $2.5 million endowment will assure that all of Guatemala’s indigent children receive sight-saving surgery and prescription glasses free of charge forever. Our cost per pair of new pediatric eye glasses is $22 and cost per pediatric surgery is $209. Congenital cataracts, strabismus, trauma, corneal scarring, congenital glaucoma and need for eye glasses are the most common causes of preventable blindness in children in Guatemala.
Needless blindness exists in all developing countries. But because of VOSH/PA, their benefactors and partners, Guatemala has an extensive eye clinic infra-structure that, with your help, can eliminate needlessblindness in children. With a fully funded endowment, all of Guatemala’s children can be assured access to eye care regardless of their parents’ ability to pay for services. Having access to eye care provides one less important reason for materially-poor people to immigrate to the USA, gives children the needed vision skills to remain in school, have more opportunity to be lifted out of poverty, and further assures that more young women will remain in school and pregnancy-free until adulthood.
YOUR PARTICIPATION IS ESSENTIAL
Your heartfelt support and generosity is needed if we are to succeed in this campaign. Our campaign goal for the endowment phase of the campaign is $2.5 million.
The amount of your pledge is a matter only you can decide. This material was prepared to share our needs with you. The suggested gift plans are designed to help you respond generously by taking advantage of time payment methods. These are only suggestions, since you are encouraged to give according to your own circumstances.
