Mision Claridad

International projects sometimes start from a simple idea over a cup of coffee. In March 2020, days before the pandemic locked the world down, Riverview Rotarian Paul Dusseault and his wife Cynthia, had coffee with a social worker friend in the Andean town of Cuenca, Ecuador. Having just completed a computer room upgrade in a school for youth with developmental disabilities, Paul and Cynthia were looking for a new humanitarian project.

 

Their friend Betty explained that the public healthcare system in Ecuador does not provide free cataract surgery. As a result, many low-income Ecuadoreans, unable to pay up to $2,500 USD/eye for the surgery at private clinics, do not get the surgery, and as a result, their vision gradually diminishes leading to severe vision impairment or even blindness.

 

With this idea of a cataract mission in mind, Paul and Cynthia prepared to return to Canada. But just prior to leaving Ecuador, they met with Riverview’s partner club in Ecuador, the Club Rotario Tomebamba, and pitched the project idea to them. The club president, Alfredo Vega, enthusiastically supported the idea and committed his club to the project.

 

Over the next 2.5 years, Paul, Cynthia, and Alfredo developed Misión Claridad. Paul and Cynthia recruited a team of Canadian ophthalmologists, ophthalmology residents, and nurses. They prepared a Rotary International Global Grant, which was approved. They engaged in additional fundraising activities. They identified the necessary equipment and supplies and procured them. With Alfredo’s help, they arranged with a Cuenca hospital to have access to two operating rooms as well as examination and waiting areas for patients. Alfredo ensured that all the necessary Ecuadorean customs papers were prepared to allow the team and its many hockey bags of equipment and supplies into the country. One of the key pieces was the involvement of the Ecuadorean Ministry of Public Health in the selection of the patients. Paul and Cynthia were adamant that the individuals selected for surgery would be those who were most in need.

 

Finally, on September 19, 2022, a team of 12 individuals departed Edmonton, Canada for a one-week mission to Cuenca, Ecuador. In addition to the cataract team, 3 of those individuals (all Rotarians, an optometrist, an optician, and a volunteer trained to carry out basic eye tests) formed a small optometry team, which spent the week delivering eye exams in schools for individuals with disabilities, orphanages, and homes for low-income seniors. During the week, the cataract team performed 79 surgeries, and the optometry team performed 295 eye exams, and later provided 129 people with free eyeglasses.

 

Shortly after completing the first mission in September 2022, planning started for a second mission (a larger one, with a team of 21), which took place in October 2023. Over the two years of this mission, 236 individuals received cataract surgery, 652 individuals received eye examinations, and 360 individuals received free eyeglasses. Misión Claridad has improved the lives of many, and Paul and Cynthia, as well as the dedicated team members who have taken part in the two trips, feel nothing short of grateful to have served the people of Ecuador in such a meaningful way.

 

While planning the first mission in 2022, Paul and Cynthia learned that the Ministry of Public Health has ophthalmologists on staff who are fully capable of performing cataract surgeries. However, these ophthalmologists are unable to perform the surgeries due to a lack of equipment. In late 2022, Paul and Cynthia were able to obtain the necessary ophthalmology equipment (donated, high quality, pre-owned equipment). This equipment was shipped to a public hospital near Cuenca in early 2023 and was uncrated, set up, and calibrated by a Canadian technician in October 2023. In 2024, using this equipment, the Ministry of Public Health will begin to provide cataract surgeries for the first time at a public hospital in this health region of southern Ecuador.

 

Since the Ministry of Public Health is just beginning to provide cataract surgeries and will need some time to develop a plan and a budget to carry out surgeries on a regular basis, Paul and Cynthia are planning a third mission for the fall of 2024. They are also looking into shipping more equipment to the public hospitals of the district to help the Ministry of Public Health provide this much-needed surgery to individuals who needlessly suffer from impaired vision due to cataracts.