New Vistas for Vision Care at the Manos Amigas Clinic

How often have we heard “Dress for the occasion”? But what if you can’t see well enough to tie your shoes or put on your makeup or even read the date on the calendar?  Who are you dressing up for anyway? Who is going to help you walk down the path, so you don’t stumble? These are the circumstances confronting many Hondurans every day as they go about their daily routines. Lack of eye care and correctable conditions left untreated, frequently lead to blindness, especially in parts of the developing world like Honduras. Eye exams, glasses and expensive surgeries are luxuries not readily available or even accessible for those with meager financial resources.

The date of March 23rd is significant because it is World Optometry Day, kicking off a week-long celebration of the work of vision care specialists and associates around the world. Serving at the Crossroads celebrates Karen Murillo, the Manos Amigas optometry technician, and our partnerships with Vision Health International (VHI) who sends eye brigades and Operation Honduras who provides eye glasses. In honor of the vision care specialists who serve and have served at Manos Amgias, Serving at the Crossroads has started a scholarship fund for Honduran medical students to pursue further studies to become ophthalmologists. 

Serving at the Crossroads is thankful for our partnerships with Vision Health International (VHI) and Operation Honduras.

VHI has brought skilled technical staff from the U.S. and Canada to work at the clinic for many years. We celebrate the dedication and life changing work of the VHI medical teams who test, evaluate, and correct vision problems. Their outreach teams travel to distant villages and schools to provide visual acuity exams, glasses and eye prosthetics for patients who have no means of coming to the clinic. We have witnessed the selfless hours of dedicated services these eye care professionals provide our patients.

Operation Honduras has supplied thousands of glasses that the VHI teams and the Manos Amigas optometry technician provide to patients. The volunteers from these partners are role models, opening new vistas. 

The Manos Amigas clinic is privileged to have visiting professionals work side by side with clinic staff and through the efforts of many of them, the clinic has its own testing and visual acuity instrumentation to offer daily examinations and glasses to those in need. In 2019, the clinic opened a surgery and eye center which contains a new, modern optometry center where patients can select from an array of new glasses, bifocals, progressive lenses and even contact lenses and sunglasses. 

Just last week, VHI’s chief ophthalmologist donated a Zeiss Master intraocular lens biometer for our surgery and eye center. Optical biometers provide intraocular lens (IOL) power measurements which are critical to refractive or cataract surgery. IOLs are artificial implants used to replace the human eye crystalline lenses in patients with cataracts. The standard IOL is designed to match the patient’s eye, providing good images of objects at infinity. The intention is to ideally compensate for all defects of vision so that patients do not need to wear glasses at all. 

Zeiss Master Intraocular Lens Biometer

Because every eye is unique, it can be difficult to determine the style and strength of the intraocular lens to implant during surgery.  Precision measurements with an IOL instrument make it possible to choose the most appropriate lens for each patient.

The work of these visiting teams and the equipment they have provided have inspired the Manos Amigas optometry technician, Karen Murillo Casaca to enroll in optometry school. Karen completed studies in 2013 to be an optometry technician with a scholarship from Serving at the Crossroads and now, with another scholarship from Serving the Crossroads, she is continuing her studies to advance further in her professional career.

Also, Marlon Tabora, who translated for brigades when he was a high school student, is now in medical school and considering pursuing advanced studies in ophthalmology.

Because of the services offered, we have patients who are seeing their children or grandchildren for the first time, youngsters who are doing better with their schoolwork now that they can clearly see the words on the blackboard, and senior citizens have regained their independence and no longer need a caretaker because their sight has been restored.

People filled with hope come to Manos Amigas to receive attention and care for various eye conditions. They are “dressed for the occasion” in their very best attire as a sign of respect.  They leave, after many hugs and expressions of thanks, able to see the world again. The quality of eye care they receive at Manos Amigas has changed their lives.