You guessed it – 2017 is underway and the team at VCOM is planning our next trip to Mexico!
By this time next year, Dr. Curt Young and his awesome team of technicians will be traveling back to Monterrey, Mexico with the same goal in mind – restore eyesight to those who suffer from cataracts but cannot afford this sight-saving surgery.
40% of those with cataracts in Mexico are of working age. With cataracts, their work is hindered and they cannot provide for their families. We want to change that.
“One of the patients from the 2014 project in Montemorelos, Mexico came up to their technician in the hospital corridor the day after her surgery and graciously and emotionally thanked him for his help.
She told him that she had been living by herself in a one-room shack with a dirt floor and no electricity or running water for the past several years following the loss of her vision from diabetes and cataracts.
Too visually impaired to work and without family to help, her survival depended on neighbors putting out a plate of food on her doorstep each day. When the food arrived, she had to contend with wild dogs and birds attacking her to get the meal.
She said she sometimes went days without food and often wished that she would soon die. However, following her operation, she said that she …. wanted to go back to school and become a teacher. She said that her surgery had restored much more than just her vision; it had restored her hope.
What we believe is most profound about this woman’s testimony is not the temporal and physical relief provided by the successful ophthalmic surgery, but rather the healing that occurred in this woman’s soul as a result of the actions of the missionary workers.”
Vision Care of Maine was featured on Fox 22 for a segment discussing Dr. Young and his team’s cataract surgery mission trip to Mexico.
“I think it’s our duty to help out whenever we can and where ever we can. Through coffee we enjoy life. Through vision we’re effective in life. If you can’t see, you can’t produce or support or take care of your family… to be able to have your vision restored – it’s amazing.”
-Chris Keegan, co-owner of Coffee Hound Coffee Bar
Read the full article here!
Watch Dr. Young below!
What is the goal of this mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico?
What is the most rewarding part of helping those in need?
How can we help?
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On October 1, 2016 Dr. Curt Young and a team of 6 ophthalmic technicians will travel to Monterrey, Mexico to participate in a mission with 5 other eye teams from around the U.S. to provide cataract surgeries to some of Mexico’s lowest-income areas.
On October 1, 2016 Dr. Curt Young and a team of 6 ophthalmic technicians will travel to Monterrey, Mexico to participate in a mission with 5 other eye teams from around the U.S. to provide cataract surgeries to some of Mexico’s lowest-income areas. Dr. Young and his team are volunteering their time and expertise as well as providing the surgical supplies to perform more than 150 cataract surgeries in 5 days to restore sight to those who have become blind with cataracts.
Our team of eye care professionals is dedicated to ensuring that the people who trust us with their vision care receive the most advanced medical and surgical eye care available anywhere.
However, this is not the case in other parts of the world, so we at Vision Care of Maine are taking our expertise and technologies on the road to Mexico for a mission trip to restore the sight to more than 150 people in need.
In the United States we are blessed to be able to have a cataract surgery before it causes us to lose the ability to go about our lives normally. Unfortunately, over 285 million people worldwide live with low vision or blindness. 90% of those live in low-income countries and do not have the resources or access to services that are easily within reach in the U.S.
We thank you in advance for joining Vision Care of Maine’s ‘Vision for Compassion’ by supporting a partial, full or multiple eye surgeries ($250 for each surgery).
Note: Donation link has expired.