25 March, 2013
SANTO DOMINGO, D.R. – As part of its Blindness Prevention program in the Dominican Republic, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) joins forces with the Student Volunteer Optometrists for Service of Humanity of the New England College of Optometry—SVOSH-NECO to bring 17 students and faculty to deliver critical eye care to 1,200 poor children and adults with severe eye problems in Santo Domingo’s inner city neighborhoods called Las Americas, where thousands of undocumented Haitians and Dominicans live in vulnerable conditions. The five-day eye care intervention will take place at BRA partner’s Community Center, Family Outreach Ministries International – and co-sponsored by the Lions Club Arroyo Hondo Santo Domingo.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that blindness affects over forty million people around the world, and that poor vision disables 135 million more. More than ninety percent of these people live in developing countries. Although effective prevention and timely treatment would eliminate eighty percent of global blindness, prevention and treatment of eye problems are inaccessible to many in the developing world, including the Dominican Republic. The unmet need for prescription spectacles frequently limit adult employment opportunities and reduce children’s ability to read and learn.
BRA’s CEO, Ulrick Gaillard remarked that the mission, in its seventh consecutive year with the SVOSH group, will take place from April 8th-12th, and will draw a crowd of hundreds that will travel far away to take advantage of this once-in-a-life-time opportunity to check or treat their vision and receive a pair of eyeglasses—all free of charge. Gaillard added that the optometry volunteer group is fully equipped and self-sufficient, and will travel with sophisticated machines, thousands of dollars in medicines, eye drops, eyeglasses and supplies. Patients who need follow-up or specialized care or custom-made eyeglasses will be referred to BRA’s medical center located inside Batey Cinco in the province Monte Plata where complete optometric and ophthalmological care is provided to hundreds in each year.
