Alan Gruber recently compiled this report on the 2004 Campaign.
| Maria Lopez de Consulo (not her real name) is 80 years old. She lost her two sons and her husband in the war and lives by herself in a small community near San Miguel. Her house is a simple structure, made of plastic sheeting. She survives by selling cans and plastic that she finds in the streets, along with the help of people in the community. She is nearly blind. Her cataracts are so dense that she can only see hand motion at about five feet. It would cost at least $600. for her to obtain cataract surgery and lens implants; about the amount of money she earns in five years. Even if she had the money, she would have to travel about six hours by bus to San Salvador for the surgery and would have to have a place to stay. As Dr. Irving Tanzman, one of the Friends of ASAPROSAR optometrists, examined her, she asked no less than three times if she was really going to get her surgery for free. She could not believe it as she was being scheduled for surgery… she said it was a miracle from God.
Luz Alejandra Martinez (not her real name) is 8 years old. She was born with a deformity of her left eye that never developed, had no vision and caused her face to be distorted. She was very sensitive about her appearance. She was shy and withdrawn. Her mother had abandoned her. Her father is an alcoholic and often missing for weeks at a time. She lived with her 17 year old sister and her children. Her sister and her sister's boyfriend had a hard time making ends meet. Luz was an added burden. Friends of ASAPROSAR performed ophthalmic plastic surgery on the eye and had a prosthetic eye made. Now she blends in like all children her age. Friends of ASAPROSAR arranged for her to live with a young woman who cares for her as if she were her own. She is in school and thriving. Her life is changed. |
The 16th annual eye health campaign was conducted by Friends of ASAPROSAR from 30 January 2004 to 8 February 2004. This was the first year that we saw patients in two sites simultaneously and there were many new challenges to confront.
We had 52 volunteers working with us in El Salvador this year. There were 45 people from the Greater Boston area, 2 from Kentucky, 1 from New York and 4 from Australia. In addition, there were many volunteers from El Salvador and at least 20 staff members of ASAPROSAR. The entire group worked together well, as always, to once again complete a very successful campaign. Pictures taken during the campaign can be seen in the gallery.
This year, in addition to working in Santa Ana, a group of 15 spent five days in San Miguel, the third largest city in the country, located about 20 minutes from the Pacific coast, in the southeast. There are eight departments (states) in El Salvador. The four that constitute the eastern region are San Miguel, Usulutan, Morazan and La Uni?n. The town of Perquín was considered to be the capital of El Salvador's guerrilla movement during the war and is about 90 kilometers away from San Miguel. The area continues to be deficient in medical care. There are only about five ophthalmologists in the entire eastern region, about the same number of optometrists and no hospitals that are equipped to conduct ophthalmologic surgery beyond the complexity of pterygium (a condition caused by chronic irritation and sun, in which a membrane grows from the inside edge of the eye toward the outside edge and eventually covers over the cornea, causing blindness). Surgical removal of the membrane in pterygium only requires the use of relatively low-tech magnification and local anesthesia. Thus, the eye health needs in San Miguel were known to be very substantial.
Lic. Jorge Guadalupe Sorto, Press Director of Radio Chaparrastique, and a very influential person in the community, approached Dra. Vicky Guzman about the lack of resources and severe problems in October 2003. ASAPROSAR's reputation across the country is now well known and ASAPROSAR represented the only hope for the poor people of the area. Dr. Alan Gruber met with Lic. Sorto and Dra. Guzman to discuss the possibility of working in San Miguel and, over the next several months, the plans were put in place.
Fifteen of the volunteers left the rest of the group in Santa Ana on Saturday, 31 January, and made the five-hour trip to San Miguel. The group worked in the Club Áquila, which is a restaurant and recreation area owned by the local professional soccer (fútbol) team. The team donated their entire facility to us for the five days of the eye campaign.
Fifteen of the volunteers left the rest of the group in Santa Ana on Saturday, 31 January, and made the five-hour trip to San Miguel. The group worked in the Club Áquila, which is a restaurant and recreation area owned by the local professional soccer (fútbol) team. The team donated their entire facility to us for the five days of the eye campaign.
Our group of volunteers in San Miguel included two ophthalmologists, three optometrists, two ophthalmologic technicians (unfortunately, one of the technicians had to return to the U. S. on the second day because of a family emergency) and eight others who staffed the dispensary. Over the course of the five days in San Miguel, we saw 1,018 patients. As expected, the frequency and degree of eye pathology was very substantial. Based upon the examinations, we found 100 patients who needed cataract surgery, 60 who needed surgery for pterygium and 3 for strabismus. In addition, we sent a 3 year old who was blind from congenital cataracts directly to Santa Ana for consultation with O'Ine McCabe, MD, the pediatric ophthalmologist on our team. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done for the child. We dispensed 687 pairs of eyeglasses and another 66 pairs of eyeglasses had to be made for patients who we could not fit from our eyeglass bank.
Meanwhile, back in Santa Ana, the surgical team was operating on 87 patients. We performed seven corneal transplants as well as cataract extractions and lens implants, pterygium dissections and strabismus corrections. At the same time, the clinic team saw 619 patients, dispensed 344 pairs of eyeglasses and made an additional 62 pairs of eyeglasses for patients who we could not fit from the eyeglass bank.
The construction of the new clinic/surgical support building being built with funds donated to Friends of ASAPROSAR is now underway and it was exciting to see it beginning to emerge. It will house rooms for sterilizing surgical equipment, a post-operative recovery area, patient examination rooms, surgical supply space, additional offices and storage areas. It will be directly attached to the current medical/surgical building and will double the available space.
All in all, it was another great year. So many of the volunteers return year after year because we know that we are truly giving a gift that impacts on people's lives beyond description.
Our sincere appreciation goes to the volunteers who participated in the project this year:
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Dorothy F. Blass, RN Joseph H. Bowlds, MD Elizabeth A. Bradford Charlotte Byrne Frances B. Charles, RN H. J. "Skip" Charles, Jr. Edward B. Connolly, MD Paul Cotran, MD Yvonne M. Dady, RN Erin Lee Gallant Robin Gallant, RN Patti-Ann Gatti, RN Evie Ghiloni, RN Jennifer Ghiloni David Z. Greenseid, MD Linda Greenseid Alan R. Gruber, PhD, MD Helen E. Gruber, PhD |
Gregory Hagedorn, OD Jacqueline Heuston Gwynn M. Horsburgh, OD Susan M. Ketteringham Mary K. Lavoie, RN Bernadette Lynch Elizabeth Mammone, RN O'Ine McCabe, MD Jeanne Nevins Craig Notman Diane Osborne Riad Riskalla, MD Ramy Rizkalla, MD Gabrielle Roden, MD Robert Roden Richard C. Rodman, MD Nidia Rosato Marion B. Scott |
Stephanie Sironi, RN Mary Smith, RN Raymond A. Smith, MD Faye Speert Peter Speert, MD Irving Tanzman, OD Susan Trubiano James W. Umlas, MD Anthony J. Vella Kerry Gruber-Vella, PhD Jane Walker, RN Virginia "Ginger" Watson Maria Wertz Lorena A. Zeller Robert E. Zeller, MD Harry I. Zeltzer, OD |
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