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SVOSH TEAM FROM OHIO STATE
UNIVERSITY
From September 6-17th, 2003, 14 students
and 2 doctors came down to San Luis la Herradura, El Salvador
to treat eye problems and fit glasses to about 1500 people,
most of whom had never seen an eye doctor before. The team was
fed and sheltered by Mayor Milton Galileo Gonzalez of San Luis
la Herradura, here seen on the left, and because of his kindness,
the people of his town had the opportunity to receive the best
of care from these wonderful students and doctors. Because of
exposure to intense sun, local fishermen and farmers have a
high incidence of cataracts. It is our hope to bring down a
surgical team to remove cataracts this year.
Alcade and Muriel Laverty
Group photo
Patients
assembled in the church. Beginning at 4 AM, people would
gather in the church, and by 7 AM there would be several
thousand hoping to be seen. Each day we would have to
choose 300 to be seen, and making the choices was difficult.
Patients assembled in the church.
Pupils
being dilated.
Once choosen, each received eye drops to dilate their
pupils prior to the examination.
Once the drops
were instilled, Omar would translate to the patients about
the affect of the eye drops. Omar, our president for projects
in Nicaragua and Honduras, has translated for over 5 VOSH
groups. We also had four missionaries each day from The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints come and translate
for us, and without them we could not have treated as
many patients as we did.
Kathleen and Omar
Fitted
for Glasses
Patients being seen by the doctors
The Siuna Foundation wishes to thank Mayor
Gonzalez and all of the wonderful people from the Alcadia, who
came to help organize this medical mission, the men who
drove the vans and trucks that hauled the huge boxes of glasses
and equipment; the guard who stood watch every night to keep
our equipment safe; the Catholic Church of San Luis who graciously
donated the space in
which to hold the clinic; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints, President Nelson, who allowed the missionaries to
come translate for us every day; the people of San Luis who
endured long lines in the hot sun. And most of all, the doctors
and students from OSU who donated 2 weeks of their lives to
fly to El Salvador at their own expense to help others.
Happy Faces
For all of those people that waited in lines,
but were not seen by the doctors, please forgive us, and know
that we will do our best to bring another team down. Hicimos
lo mejor que pudimos. For the 1500 or so people that were seen
and received treatments and/or glasses, we are grateful for
the opportunity to serve you.
