AGORA XXI: BLOG OF THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT PAUL

Shoulder to Shoulder to Improve the Sight of Many

Each year during the month of January, a group of volunteers from Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA, come to the Dominican Republic to conduct an ophthalmologic clinic in the parish La Sagrada Familia in Sabana Yegua. The group is composed of surgeons, ophthalmologists, nurses, and others of good will. These people, already busy with their own lives, make a significant and inconvenient commitment to journey far from home to provide advanced medical services, not readily available or affordable, to the local people of the parish. 

When the medical specialists and their aides arrive, they are joined by an enthusiastic group of Dominican volunteers who generously and attentively support them with translations and other logistical activities during the hectic week of nearly non-stop work. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the two groups meld into a dedicated and efficient team. In the clinic, the sight of many people, with a variety of different ailments and conditions, is examined, evaluated and treated. Many surgeries, already planned during the months before the clinic, are performed.

Because of the planning and coordination, developed through the experience of clinics in prior years, this year's clinic, conducted from January 6-11, had record-breaking results. In just one week, the ophthalmologists examined 915 people and gave them curative or preventative treatments according to their needs. They also performed 114 surgeries, especially cataract operations for older people, in the facilities of the public hospital of Azua. These results are awesome considering the compressed time of just a few days that the group was here.

Not to be overlooked, a group of volunteers, who accompanied the medical team, used their visit to build a lovely house for a needy family of the parish.

From all of us at La Sagrada Familia Parish, we wish to give thanks and prayers of gratitude for the long days of intense work done by all of the volunteers. Because of these generous, loving and talented people, the 2015 campaign was again... a great success!

Editors Note: The group’s work was recently featured in the local newspaper in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Click here to read the article.