Current Trips

Below is a list of the trips AMIGOS Eye Care has planned for the current Academic Year.

It is the goal of AMIGOS Eye Care to return to the same sites year after year, providing eye care and building relationships, until a self-sustaining presence can be established.

Trip Information:

Dates: August 2018

Team Size: 8

Details:

Team Belize will be travelling with 7 student members 2 doctors, and 1 volunteer. They will spend 4 clinic days in Belize City working with the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired (BCVI) and their local Lions Club. The team is aiming to see 500 patients throughout this time. They will focus on educating patients about the implications of diabetes on the eye since diabetes is very common in this community, and emphasizing the necessity of sunglasses.

They will also spend a couple days touring the Mayan Ruins that are right outside of Belize City, and taking the water taxi to Ambergris Caye.

Trip Information:

Dates: August 2018

Team Size: 10

Details:

Guatemala has been one of our most successful and long-standing Amigos trips. Team Guatemala is returning for another exciting and busy trip to the Ixcan region to work with Dr. Scott Pike’s organization, Enfoque Ixcan. We are looking to see around 1200 patients in 4 clinic days, with the help of multiple community doctors! This year, we will be bringing equipment to set up a permanent lab that will allow glasses to be made for the people of Guatemala in their individual prescriptions right away, and also when we are not in-country.

On our fun days, we plan on touring the beautiful turquoise pools of Semuc Champey and hiking the Pacaya volcano. 

Trip Information:

Dates: December 2018

Team Size: 8

Details:

In December, a team of 7 students and one doctor will travel to the Arusha region of Tanzania to provide eye care to the people there. They will spend three days in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where they will work with villagers in the Maasai communities. They will spend their remaining two clinic days at Mungere School near Mto wa Mbu, working with The Red Sweater Project. In total, the team aims to see 600 patients during this time.

In addition to direct patient care, the team will focus on education and prevention of ocular conditions by providing sunglasses and lesson plans to the students and teachers at Mungere School. This year the team is also hoping to take equipment to Tanzania that will allow patients to be given spectacle lenses made specifically for them that will exactly match their prescription. This will provide a foundation for a more sustainable source of eye care in the future.

On Christmas Day, the team will unwind and enjoy the wildlife of Tanzania on a safari!

Trip Information:

Dates: December 2018

Team Size: 11

Details:

AMIGOS is very excited to be going  to southern China later this year in December! Team China will be partnering with Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (ZOC), the #1 ranked eye hospital in China. Over 4.5 clinic days, they plan to see a wide range of patients from ages 0-99 in rural Zhongshan villages who have limited access to eye care services. They’ll be providing comprehensive vision care along with dilated fundus examinations. Another half of a day will be dedicated to education exchanges at ZOC, followed by fun days in Guangdong province and Hong Kong.

The team will consist of eight optometry students in second and third year as well as three attending optometrists: Dr. Susan Littlefield, Dr. Evelyn Lo and Dr. Shannon Feng. Additionally, they will be joined by two ZOC ophthalmologists: Dr. Zidong Chen and Dr. Xiang Chen. 

Trip Information:

Dates: March 2019

Team Size: TBD

Details:

Team leaders and members have not yet been decided. More info will come later this year! 

Trip Information:

Dates: March 2019

Team Size: TBD

Details:

Team leaders and members have not yet been decided. More info will come later this year!  

Trip Information:

Dates: March 2019

Team Size: TBD

Details:

Team leaders and members have not yet been decided. More info will come later this year!