March 2022 Missions Trip
Our team had the privilege of returning to Roatan in March 2022 after missing last year due to the pandemic. Needless to say, everyone was excited including the many patients who have waited so long. Here I provide a very brief overview of our mission to date along with reflections from this most recent trip.
A lot has changed since 2005, the year we started traveling to Roatan. At that time, it was a relatively unknown island to the world, reachable only by airlines on limited days and multiple connections from the Honduras mainland. Now it’s a destination site for cruise ships with direct flights from the US almost daily. At that time there were 60,000 people without any local access to eye care. Now the population is over 100, 000 and a significant percentage of the population is categorized as extreme poverty. Yes, it is a resort island destination, however the poverty and need for eye care for those unable to travel to the mainland to get it, is still quite significant. My wife Pam and I were determined to do something about this problem. Despite contacting multiple international eye mission organizations, there was no interest from them in adding a new site. So, we decided to venture alone. Needless to say, it has been a learning experience, with plenty of challenges, but worth every effort. From lack of adequate water to serve our surgical autoclaves to unexpected power outages during surgical cases, we’ve seen it all. Fortunately, conditions have improved.
Each year we would take a support team of technicians, nurses and non-medical volunteers simply willing to help and, in time, developed a working clinic with a surgical operating room. Our mission was growing and included the hiring of a local Honduran primary care doctor to manage patients with general medical problems every day of the week for the many people who didn’t even have access to basic medical care. It was a blessing to know people were receiving ongoing general medical care even while we were back in the States. Soon we established our 501c3 non-profit status, and now it has caught the attention of others in the medical profession with a desire to serve. Soon, we began hearing from other eye specialists from across the nation, from Louisiana to California, with a desire to join us. We had a clinic with a surgical suite, complete with a surgical microscope and all the equipment needed to perform everything from basic eye exams to complex cataract surgery. Now we have many eye specialists joining together to meet the need in providing care to the indigent. Over the years we have hosted eye care professionals from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Colorado, Louisiana, California, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Ohio.
This recent trip marked our 18th return and the momentum has not slowed, as the mission has recently acquired land for our future new clinic / surgical facility along with many more professionals wanting to join in our effort. In an effort to make up for lost time, my wife Pam and I decided to coordinate two weeks with separate teams covering each one. The first week consisted of two oculoplastic surgeons, Dr. Jenny Yu from Pittsburg, PA and Dr. Nikita Richards from Richmond, VA. We also had the help of Denver ophthalmologist Dr. Russ Burcham who had just completed a mission trip to Panama. Northern VA optometrist, Dr. Justin Lee, helped in seeing patients at our peripheral clinic in the poorest area of Roatan while we worked out of a central island clinic doing surgeries. General exams, glaucoma diagnosis and treatment, cataract and oculoplastic surgeries occupied our days with an amazing team of support medical and non-medical volunteers. The first week also included our traditional children’s Vacation Bible School were we all came together to learn about the Armor of God. The children look forward to our return each year and it has become a highlight for us as well.
With the departure of the first week’s team and arrival of our second, we led off with a medical seminar hosting local Honduran primary care doctors as we reviewed a variety of ophthalmic topics and discussion. Working with the local community has been an important goal for us as a mission and we appreciate their support. We are also grateful to have the support of Dr. Diego Ponce, a local Honduran retina specialist from the mainland. The new team arriving for week two consisted of cataract / cornea surgeon Dr. Paul Kang from Washington DC, who also serves as our Vice President of Health In Sight Mission. We were privileged to also have Cataract / Cornea specialist Dr. Lloyd Williams from Duke University in NC as well as Dr. Brian Mihok and Dr. Craig Mitcham, both from Dayton Ohio.
With such talent available to us over these two weeks, we were able to examine approximately 600 patients, provide oculoplastic surgeries to 7 patients, fit 3 patients with ocular prostheses from disfiguring eye injuries and perform 56 cataract surgeries. We also dispensed numerous prescription glasses that were donated by our friends, family and patients! Dr. Kang and myself were able to meet with Mayor’s and representatives from each district of the island and participate in a local news interview to share our vision. The mission was also able to bring on a local administrator, Kallie Vallecillo, to help coordinate our mission more locally. Kallie is an experienced RN who lives full-time in Roatan and will be a huge blessing to us as we continue to develop and expand eye care on the island.
A few patient encounters always stand out on each trip and this mission was no different. One was an elderly gentleman who had to be led in by family because of bilateral advanced cataracts. Immediately after his surgery, he was able to see our faces and independently walk out of the clinic on his own with, literally, a new outlook on life. Another involved a 14 year-old girl who had a disfigured blind eye from a traumatic injury. She experienced ridicule and bullying from classmates and she became socially withdrawn. Yet, when an artificial eye prosthesis (artistically handmade and donated by an ocularist) was inserted to cover the scarred and shrunken eye, it changed her appearance dramatically. Now she had, what anyone would say as, two matching eyes. She looked in the mirror and told her mom ‘I finally feel pretty’. Needless to say, there were a lot of tears shed in joy for her ‘renewed look’.
It’s such a privilege to be a part of giving back to those in need and we receive as much of the blessing as those receiving the care. We look forward to continuing our trips. Ultimately, it is our desire to build a freestanding eye center in Roatan, staffed by Honduran ophthalmologists and technicians, where eye care will be easily available to all regardless of ability to pay. We would continue to provide professional support and help with training but the center would be Roatan’s own. Currently we are in discussions with the ophthalmology residency program on the Honduras mainland to find that new specialist with a desire to serve and build a practice. Within two years, it is our hope and prayer that Roatan would be able to provide the highest level of eye care for the entire island population on a daily basis. We welcome anyone interested in joining in this effort as we are actively raising funds to complete this project.