Glasses for Mexico - Humanitarian Service Project

Dr. Brad Habermehl spoke with the Rotary Club of Marco Island Noontime with an update on the club’s longest-term international service project, Avoidable Blindness in Mexico. This humanitarian service project is a joint effort among Dr. Habermehl, Optometrist, and Rotarian with the Burton, Michigan Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Marco Island Noontime, the Empalme, Mexico Rotary Club, and Western University College of Optometry in California, where Brad currently serves. The Marco Noontime Rotary Club collects glasses and sunglasses and raises funds to support the project. The Optometry students clean and sort the glasses and pack them for transport. Every Spring, 20 to 25 volunteers, including both Rotarians and Optometry students, along with approximately 10,000 pairs of glasses, meet in Phoenix, where they board an American bus they take to the Mexico Border. After clearing border control, the volunteers and glasses transfer to a Mexican bus provided by the Empalme Rotary Club and continue to the San Carlo Hotel to relax in preparation for four days of concentrated work. The Rotary Club of Empalme organizes all the exam events and buses the volunteers to the outlying communities serving over 500 patients daily.  

Each location is organized with six stations: One: Registration, where volunteers, with the help of high school student translators, get the patients’ stats, blood pressure and a description of their problem. Two: The patient reads a chart at 20 feet. Three: The patient reads a close-up paper. Four: Darkroom test is done in a tent with an automated refractor. Five: The exam with the Optometry students is completed by fitting the patient with glasses. The goal is to achieve at least a 20/40 vision or better. Six: The patient is provided with two pairs of glasses as close as possible to the ideal prescription plus sunglasses to protect their eyes from the hot Mexican sun. The final day’s clinic is held at the San Carlos hotel serving all the hotel employees and local residents. 

This humanitarian project dramatically improves the lives of thousands of Mexicans through better vision every year since 2000.  You may contribute your used glasses and sunglasses or make a financial contribution by contacting Linda Sandlin, Rotary Club of Marco Island International Chair at 239-777-9200 or linda@marcorealtysource.com.