In January I talked with Maxine Perry whose late husband established the now self-sustaining Centro Cristiano de Servicios Medicos of Honduras (CCSMHonduras) in El Progreso. She is traveling to Honduras this month and will discuss our request for patient referrals with the administrators of the clinic. So there is a real possibility that our patients will have still another avenue for referral.

Cuba flies people to Havana for free surgeries and also sends surgeons to Honduras on occasion. During our trip to Honduras March 24 - April 1 we will try to find out from Luther just how that is arranged. Both CCSMH and Drs. Ponce as well as Sight for the Blind and SEE International assist the under- served and will charge according to the patient’s ability to pay as determined by existing protocol established by their clinic social workers. Guf and I plan to visit each of these clinics so that we will have a clear understanding of their respective referral procedures. Upon our return, we will disseminate referral details to each team.

As the goal is for all projects to be self-sustaining, we have made arrangements for Donna Goff, a Honduran nurse residing in Limon who has worked with our teams for many years, to train with Dr. Valerie Colby, a missionary optometrist in Tegucigalpa. She will return from her training to become the eye nurse for all the teams and will serve as the administrator of the vision diagnostic/referral program, responsible for the equipment, glasses inventory, and patient report forms, all of which will be housed in the Carolina Clinic in Limon. She will also function as the liaison with the host ophthalmologists for referrals to surgical teams from SEE International and Sight for the Blind. We are also investigating the possibility of Donna’s being accepted for the Ophthalmology Assistant degree program offered by CCSMHonduras in El Progreso.

Children are our primary target for the 2007 vision diagnostics/ referral ministry. We have been able to screen relatively few children and young people in the past . They suffer most frequently with amblyopia and strabismus and it is imperative that their vision loss be treated early before it interferes with education or progresses beyond correction. In the States, children are screened every year beginning when they are five years old, and before, if problems are suspicioned. In the past, we have used the Focometer from InFocus for determining lens prescriptions. That instrument is satisfactory when time is no issue. However, it requires at least thirty minutes or more per patient, and sometimes per eye, depending on the patient and the operator, to obtain a reasonably accurate reading.

To make screening the children feasible, we need to purchase an autorefractor which can determine one’s prescription within seconds. To fine tune the prescription without having to make a pair of glasses more than once, we will need a trial lens set. We will need a tonometer, preferably a non contact tonometer which does not require anesthetic, to check for elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), a symptom of glaucoma. To scan the retina for damage to the optic nerve we have already purchased a panoptic ophthalmoscope which does not require dilation of the pupils.

The proposal is to pool all resources and share the equipment. I have discussed with some of you the idea that teams choosing to participate each contribute X dollars to this project. I’ve done some praying on this; and I do not believe it would be fair to Donna to put her in the position of policing team use. Nor do I believe it would be fair to the people we’re trying to serve to withhold anything that would be of benefit. I ask that you do some praying on this as well and contribute as the Spirit leads you. I am convinced that God will provide a way for this equipment to be made available. And when He does, it will be shared among all the teams.

Meanwhile, if you would like me to purchase sunglasses, reading glasses, or prescription lenses for your team, I will be happy to do so. I gamble for God on Ebay so I buy in batches at various prices. I will charge you the average cost per item. If you want them in time for you to put them on the Spring container, I need to hear from you very, very soon.

We will leave the glasses we do not use in Limon. If you would do the same, then there would eventually be a substantial cost savings for all of us. For those who do not go to Limon, Donna could bring glasses and equipment when she joins your team.

I will send out for each team a revised patient report form/procedural guide later this spring. I ask that you make copies sufficient for your use, fill them out as completely as you are able, and leave them with Donna.

Love in Christ,
Mary Guffey
hjguffey@earthlink.net