80 People Receive Sight Restoring Surgeries

 

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise partnered with the Rotary Club of Celaya Nat-Tha-Hi on a Rotary Global Grant for the purchase of a new ophthalmic microscope and lens kits for cataract surgeries. A surgical clinic was held at Clinica Beatriz Velazco de Aleman in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico on March 31 through April 3, 2017. 80 patients received sight restoring surgeries thanks to Rotary!

 

Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International, a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides medical, surgical and educational services, provided volunteer ophthalmic surgeons for the four-day clinic.

 

The ophthalmic microscope will be used to train surgeons and medical staff in order to treat more patients each year. If cataracts are not treated in a timely manner they ultimately may become inoperable. The cataract operating program is expected to treat between 500 and 2,000 individuals this year.

 

Untreated cataracts create grave social and economic distress within the family unit. The affected person loses his capacity to participate productively with his family. Individuals receiving timely treatment for cataracts increase their annual productivity exponentially. Patients treated within this program represent the most financially challenged population in this region. The surgeries have no cost to the patient.

 

One patient shared her sense of pride because she can now babysit her grandchildren which will allow the parent to return to the workforce.

 

Volunteer Rotarians performed various activities such as transportation, check-in patients, visit with families of patients, assist nursing staff with supplies and pre-operative preparations, and assist surgical staff with patients. Additionally, volunteers joined with medical staff and patients for post-surgery follow-up examination.

 

Funding for this project was provided by a Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation, Rotary Club of Celaya Nat-Tha-Hi, Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise Charitable Foundation, and Rotary International Districts 4140 and 5240.

 

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise has a long and successful relationship with the Rotary Club of Celaya Nat-Tha-Hi and SEE International collaborating on cataract surgery missions for over 20 years.