Foresight

Empowering a Healthy Vision Future

Prudence. . .Planning for the Future. . .Looking forward.  No matter how we define it, Serving at the Crossroads is preparing for the next level of services at Manos Amigas. The clinic has been known to help meet the challenges faced by patients for almost 20 years through medical and dental services. However, one area, which we started 10 years ago, has grown increasingly impactful—vision care. The need for vision care is immense. In Honduras, a country of more than 9 million people, there are only 103 ophthalmologists and most of them are in large cities.

In La Entrada, the only place for eye care is at the Manos Amigas clinic. On permanent staff is Karen Murillo, who through a Serving at the Crossroads scholarship, became an optometry technician in 2013 and is now a month away from earning her optometry degree. We also have a partnership with Vision Health International who sends teams of eye care experts from around the world to Manos Amigas two to three times a year to provide eye screenings, glasses, and surgeries. The nearest ophthalmologist is an hour away in Santa Rosa. So, the clinic is very dependent upon these visiting brigades as there are hundreds of patients on waiting lists, desperately in need of glasses and eye surgeries.

Recognizing that the community has a great need, we only had to look as far as our philosophy statement—Aid. Inform. Empower.—to know what the next step should be. Empower means “to equip or supply someone with an ability.” What better way to solve a need than to equip someone with education and skills to meet that need. So, Serving at the Crossroads established a scholarship for a medical school student to continue his/her studies to become an ophthalmologist.

We would like you to meet such a student.

Marlon Gilberto Tabora Jimenez is a 6th year medical student on track to graduate in 2025. He is currently doing his clinical rotations in San Pedro Sula, 2-1/2 hours from La Entrada. 

We have watched Marlon grow since his early years in elementary school.  His mother, Lesly, is a pre-school teacher, and his father, Anner, is a public accountant. In sixth grade, Marlon began learning English. He would accompany his father, who at that time worked at the Manos Amigas Clinic, and volunteer as a bilingual translator for the clinic.  This is where his interest in medicine was born.

Marlon at the dedication of the Manos Amigas clinic in 2010

As Marlon continued to work with the various brigades, his love for medicine increased as he saw remarkable changes in patient’s conditions. Although he was only 12-years old, he could not envision working in any other profession. Marlon loved helping people and learning about the human body from the physicians who came to the clinic as part of the medical brigades. The more he translated, the more his passion to pursue medicine grew. The visiting medical teams shaped his dreams for what could be ahead for him, and they have become an inspiration in his life teaching him values such as empathy and love for people. He recognized that it’s the attention to small details and thoroughness that create the biggest impact in a patient’s life and well-being.

With support from parents and relatives, Marlon applied for admission to Honduras’ medical program, passed the entrance exams, and was able to start the journey of his dreams—becoming a doctor. During his studies, his mother was diagnosed with lupus. Marlon knew it was his responsibility to take care of her and thus the drive to become a doctor became even stronger. 

In his 5th year of medical school, Marlon was invited to participate in an ophthalmological brigade at the Manos Amigas Clinic where he was captivated by what was being done to change the lives of patients. The experience of working with that team was an introductory opportunity that he will never forget. There he saw medical professionals working together voluntarily as a team and he saw the value of having an ophthalmologist serving the needs of people in his home region of the country. The visiting physicians commented on Marlon’s positive attitude and his leadership skills when confronted with some difficult patient cases.

Ophthalmology is a field neglected and understaffed in the country and it was a pleasure and honor to have participated with the visiting brigade as they were able to help so many people in need.”

— Marlon Tabora

Marlon now has first-hand experience and a realization of what he could contribute to the local community and regionally if he could advance his skills to include ophthalmology through advanced medical studies.  Serving at the Crossroads would like to see that happen, but we need support from our friends and donors.

Honduras does not have a curriculum for ophthalmology, so Marlon will need to study abroad at a cost of $23,000 per year for a four-year program. We need your help so that this young, emerging physician can train as an eye surgeon and return to the Manos Amigos to attend to patients daily.  Would you help Serving at the Crossroads with a personal donation to grow our fund so that by 2025 we will have the resources to fully support an ophthalmology scholarship? Click the donate button below and scroll down to the Ophthalmology Scholarship button. We are grateful for your support.