Sight is something a lot of people take for granted, along with the ability to access medical services that can assist with vision.
This March, a team from Cochrane will be travelling down to Costa Rica to try and deliver some vision care to people who may not have the ability to access it.
Dr. Tom Wilk, Dr. Michele Naruszewicz and support staff Hannah Warkentin and Kaila Pharis from Mountain View Optometry in Cochrane are teaming up with Canada Vision Care (CVC) to go to the country and provide free eye exams and glasses.
“Globally we estimate that the number of people who are blind or visually impaired, simply because they cannot access or cannot afford eye care services, is over a half a billion. Whether it is an access issue or an affordability issue, it really impedes their ability to pursue just the most basic services for eye care,” said Wilk.
Wilk also pointed out that half a billion doesn’t even account for other conditions, such as ‘cataracts, glaucoma or immaculate degeneration.’
According to the CVC website, they have performed services valued now at more than $60 million since 1981 and have created a structure where they deliver ‘thorough, comprehensive and integrated care in the developing world.’
Wilk said that the group provides glasses at no charge for people who have been identified as needing them from their on-site assessments and the eyeglasses are actually made by a local shop, rather than having them shipped down with the eye care team.
This means that the glasses will actually be made according to the exact prescriptions, and Wilk said there wouldn’t be any ‘close enough situations.’
The group has travelled to several countries, including Jamaica, Philippines, Malawi and Guyana. Wilk pointed out that although Costa Rica is not considered a ‘third world country’ anymore, almost a quarter of the population still lives below the poverty line.
“They do have health services in that country, but the issue is accessibility,” he said. “We’re going into the remote areas where unless we came to them they would receive no eye care because of that accessibility issue.”
Wilk said people might live in a remote area and not have transportation to major centers where they could access these eye care services.
And accessibility to vision can mean the difference between struggling in poverty and begin able to survive in society, according to Wilk, who pointed out that not being able to see in school or at work could actually prevent someone from getting an education or earning a living.
“We take it for granted. In areas like that if people didn’t come down and address that need, there would be hundreds of people who would perpetually be considered handicapped or permanently visually impaired just because they can’t access a pair of glasses,” he said.
Being able to provide that access is something that has become important to Wilk and his team. He said it is important to have the hands on experience and being able to give back, especially being so fortunate in this part of the world.
“A lot of the time, you don’t really realize until you go to a place that doesn’t have the same resources and the same prosperity and see with your own eyes what people are going through,” he said.
Wilk said that CVC covers any glasses that are prescribed for the people they will see in Costa Rica and also provides half of the eye care equipment that they will be using.
There will also be ground support from the local Lions Club in Costa Rica, helping with crowd control, sourcing out places to stay and translation.
The CVC just requires that the team going down pay for their travel expenses, so the Mountain View Optometry office is currently trying to raise $2,500 to pay for the two support staff members to travel.
The office is having a bottle drive until the end of March and Wilk said people could drop off bottles between Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the back parking lot on the north side of the building. If they would rather make a monetary donation, he said they could do so online at mountainviewoptometry.myevent.com.
The team will also be holding a bake sale Feb. 19 and 20 at their office.
For more information visit mountainviewoptometry.com.
