Arequipa Vision Project

The Plaza de Armas (Town Square) of Arequipa

The white color of the buildings in Arequipa is the natural stone color, not painted or whitewashed. The large building in the background is the seat of the municipal government.

Vision Project

Photos:

*Dr. Peterson preforming a pre-surgery exam

*Dr. Petersen uses the YAG laser and demonstrates use for one of the medical residents who then put in practice what he taught her.

*Eye screening at the school (2 photos)

*Here we are on the Plaza in the evening

*A view of the cloister in an Arequipa monastery we visited

We spent the week in Arequipa in support of one of the Church's Major Initiatives, a vision project. Donations allowed the purchase of medical equipment for the Department of Ophthalmology of Hospital Honorio Delgado, which serves the poor who do not have insurance through their workplace.

Arequipa is a beautiful colonial city. It is probably the most tourist friendly city we have been to in Peru, but then if you´ve been reading our blog you may have already gotten the idea that most of our time is spent in areas where few toursists venture anyway. Arequipa is known as the "white city" for the white volcanic rock that has been used in its colonial buildings and which is still used today. The streets were clean, the people friendly, the staff of hotels and restaurants were solicitous. Arequipa was a really nice place and one we would certainly recommend to anybody who is coming to Peru.

We were there for the week with a wonderful eye surgeon, Dr. Petersen from Arizona, who shared with the doctors and residents techniques for performing small-incision cataract surgery. It was fun to watch them work together and see the sense of "team" develop very quickly among them. While the week definitely had its challenges, thanks to the patience and perseverance of all involved, many people benefited and hopefully many more will benefit throughout the years as a consequence of this project.

There is a lot of cataract incidence in Arequipa and it was the wonderful people there who quite literally are giving sight unto the blind. We learned how one piece of equipment (that we had ordered and seen the name on the paperwork we processed for this project), a YAG laser, is used in practice. Sometimes following the removal of the opaque lens from the eye (the cataract) and insertion of an artificial lens, the capsule that contains the lens becomes opaque, which obscures the vision. The laser is used to remove (think "Space Invaders" blasting the aliens) a small portion of that capsule behind the lens to allow light to pass through unobstructed. Literally people who couldn't see clearly when they sat down could see much more clearly a few minutes later.  Amazing!

We also visited one community where the third part of the project will be carried out. Many schoolchildren have difficulty learning because they don´t see well and don´t have eyeglasses. The regional health department has identified the areas of highest poverty where the church will contract for measuring eyesight and provide eyeglasses for 2,000 children to help them be able to see, and hopefully perform better in school as a result. The local partners have screened schoolchildren to identify those with visual problems. As part of this project, they will also be examined by hospital ophthalmologists to assure that there are not more serious eye problems that could lead to blindness as part of this project.

     

Equipment, training, eyeglasses--these are the three components of the major vision initiative we have undertaken here. While it may not address the sum total of vision problems in the country, it does make a significant impact among those here who will benefit from the generosity of donors.

We have reflected upon the importance of not letting the magnitude of the problems overwhelm us, but rather do all that we are able to help those we are able to help. We can´t help everybody, but we can help some. God doesn't ask us to do more than we are able, but He does ask us to do what we can.  It may stretch us, it may test us, but it helps to shape us into the people He wants us to become.