Vision Team headed into an elementary school to setup the clinic
Rotarian Dr. Michael St. Peter with EyeCare Associates of Madison collected portable diagnostic equipment and supplies. Then, along with a team from our club, set out for Choluteca where they had to travel over rough terrain to reach the families in the remote mountainous villages.
Tim McMicken (l.) helps Dr. Michael St.Peter unpack vision supplies
“We brought about 1,000 pairs of glasses and sunglasses,” St. Peter said. Lions Club in Indiana donated about 700 eyeglasses. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Madison and Covenant Classical Day Care in Huntsville donated 300 pairs.
St. Peter’s primary assistants were Rotarians Dennis Sanders, D.J. Klein and Tim McMicken who helped with patient exams and matching prescriptions for glasses. They also educated residents about wearing sunglasses for UV protection. Elderly residents complained that they could no longer read their Bible. “Something as simple as reading glasses put a huge smile on their faces and enabled them to read their Bibles again,” he said.
Realizing most children had good eyesight, St. Peter’s team shifted focus to adults and asked teachers to refer children with vision problems.