The ability to place the local doctor at the center of the world’s medical crisis is a big part of the mission to restore eyesight everywhere.
Providing care
“We are not teaching them to fish. They know how to fish better in their pond than we do in theirs,” says the founder of Charity Vision, Bill Jackson, who explains that the goal is to find qualified local doctors with the desire to help their neighbors and countrymen, and then provide them with what they need to accomplish that goal.
To keep it manageable, Charity Vision specifically looks for life-changing surgeries that were safe, inexpensive and could be completed in one trip to the operating room.
It is not always easy to deal with governments, importation and vastly different cultural norms, but the blessings of this work are incomparable.
Restoring sight
Simply put, the model of encouraging and facilitating the local community to take part in restoring eyesight works. Every year, 70,000 surgeries, examinations for over 200,000 school children and tens of thousands of prescription glasses are only smaller steps within working with the local doctors. Some of the initial partners have grown into the largest eye programs in their respective countries.
Local doctors committed to helping the poor are the number one solution to the lack of care epidemic.
Over the course of 30 years, the landscape of ophthalmology has dramatically changed. Quite simply, this work is so critical and timely that some learning while on-the-go is necessary.
Doug Jackson, CEO, Charity Vision, [email protected]