Tuesday, February 24, 2009

These women in Mumbai got their eyes tested for free this month at an event organized by a volunteer group. With about 90 percent of the visually impaired living in developing countries, according to the World Health Organization, and with optometrists few and far between in those nations, such free services can be crucial.

Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity/International, or VOSH, a 38-year-old U.S. organization, has participated in free clinics as far away as India and Nicaragua as well as in such parts of the United States as the Appalachian Mountains. "Poverty is the number-one reason people can't afford to get the appropriate care," says the group's executive director, Harry Zeltzer.

On a trip that can last up to 10 days, a team of volunteers typically sees at least 900 patients. "The people who need the most help are the older people," who should get an exam about every one to two years, says VOSH President Larry Hookway. "Those over 40 usually need reading glasses. . . . If they can't read, they [at least] need them to see what they're cooking."

-- Kathleen Hom