Dr. Kirlin with young patient and his mother.

The Fourth of July, a team of volunteers from VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) and from St. Boniface Haiti Foundation traveled to our hospital in Fond des Blancs to do eye exams and vision screening,  prescribe eye glasses, and perform eye surgery.  Ophthalmologist Marty Arkin, MD, hailed from Traverse City, MI, while Anshu Chandra, OD, came from New York City, and Kevin Kirlin, OD, from Burlington, VT.  The professional team was completed by Optician Gregory Hughes of Orlando, FL.  In addition, there were 7 volunteers to translate, do vision screening with eye charts, and assist in any way possible to keep things running smoothly.

When we awoke on Monday morning, a crowd was already gathered outside the hospital, waiting to be seen by the Eye Team.  Having set up the night before, we went right to work.  Evaluations progressed quickly and eye drops and glasses were dispensed to smiling clients.  Patients with cataracts were identified and prepared for surgery.  At the end of the first day, we had seen 143 patients and done 4 surgeries.  By the second day, we were functioning like a well-oiled machine, seeing nearly 200 patients and doing 5 surgeries.  And so it went, the numbers rising every single day.  Cataracts tend to be associated with age and excessive exposure to sunlight, but a child of 9 had a traumatic cataract and a 13 year old boy had bilateral cataracts making him blind in one eye since the age of 3 and in both eyes since age 6.  The 9 year old could count 5 fingers while still on the OR table and the vision  of the 13 year-old was beginning to improve 2 days after surgery.   

The entire team was totally "pumped" when we hit the final figure of 1015 patients seen.  By then we had run out of sunglasses (donations welcome), and run low on hard-to-find prescriptions and the more popular readers.  While Americans tend to be nearsighted, the majority of Haitians turned out to be farsighted, the exact opposite.  We were all tired, having worked 11 and 12-hour days, but had a great sense of accomplishment. To quote Dr. Kirlin, "I had the most rewarding, eye opening experience of my life that I will never forget.  It was amazing to help so many Haitians but was sad to leave knowing there is so much more work to be done there."   We hope to have 2 eye teams next year and are working on a permanent eye presence at our hospital to meet the tremendous need for eye care.

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