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.
COSTA RICA
Trip Information:
Dates: March 2019
Team Size: 8
Details:
Team Costa Rica returns for its eleventh year of providing eye care to under-served patients. In conjunction with the Children’s Well Being Foundation, this year we will be serving Puntarenas, a city along the Pacific coast, and a few neighboring islands. We plan on seeing upwards of 700 patients over 4 clinic days, including those who suffer from uncompensated refractive error, cataracts, glaucoma, and various retinal pathology.
The team will consist of 8 optometry students and three attending doctors: Dr. James Kundart, Dr. Christi Closson, and Dr. Gregory Kautz.
SENEGAL
Trip Information:
Dates: March 2019
Team Size: 9
Details:
Team Senegal will have 8 students and 1 attending doctor return to West Africa over the Spring Break period. They will be providing eye care in the city of Saint Louis and hope to extend their outreach to neighbouring rural villages. Their goal is to provide care to approximately 500 patients over 3.5 clinic days with a long-term goal of creating sustainable eye care within Senegal. By training local volunteers, providing educational resources, and bringing lens edging equipment, they aim to provide accessibility to those in need for years to come.
The team is excited to bring their knowledge and experience to the Senegalese community while creating greater opportunities for future optometry students and AMIGOS members.
BELIZE
Trip Information:
Dates: March 2019
Team Size: 8
Details:
Team Belize is comprised of 8 students along with 3 doctors and some special guests. We will be serving the communities of Corozal and San Narcisso Village, where diabetes and cataracts are most prevalent. Our first 4 days there will be clinic days where we hope to see around 500 patients, and the remainder of our trip will be spent exploring Belize City and the island of San Pedro. Our goal is to dispense readers and sunglasses to every patient we see, we will also be referring patients to local ophthalmologists for further evaluation if their needs are beyond what we can supply in our short time there.
GUATEMALA
Trip Information:
Dates: August 2019
Team Size: TBD
Details:
Team members have not yet been decided. More info will come next year!
COSTA RICA
Trip Information:
Dates: August 2019
Team Size: TBD
Details:
Team members have not yet been decided. More info will come next year!
