PRASAD PROGRAMS | MEXICO
PRASAD de México Eye Care Programs
Restoring Vision, and Dignity
Each year in Mexico, thousands of adults lose their sight to cataracts, and hundreds of children are born with strabismus (crossed eyes).
With strabismus, improperly aligned eyes cause limited or blurred vision or complete loss of vision. Both conditions can be corrected with surgery, but families in rural villages lack access even to basic health services.
In 1996, PRASAD de México was founded to provide free eye surgery to remove cataracts and correct eye alignment, restoring vision, independence, self-esteem and self-reliance to adults and children.
How the Program Works
In partnership with regional hospitals and volunteer doctors, PRASAD de Mexico holds Eye Camps providing surgery to correct cataracts and strabismus.
For several months in advance of each Eye Camp, social workers and outreach volunteers work with state promotion teams to ensure that rural communities are informed about the opportunity for those with cataracts and strabismus to recover sight free of charge at a PRASAD Eye Camp.
The teams assess and organize patients and families. Candidates for surgery are generally children and adults who have been previously identified by the outreach team.
Each camp lasts for three days. In advance, the hospital hosting the camp brings in extra equipment, and volunteer nurses and specialized ophthalmologists arrive from across the county to handle the hundreds of people who will come to the camp.
Non-medical staff volunteers also help make the camps a success by registering people, preparing and serving food, creating shelters for patients to spend the night, and offering company and comfort to those who need it.
Patients receive surgery and on the next day, are able to remove their eye patches and see again. They receive instructions for the care and total recovery of the operated-on eye(s). Their return to their communities with sight restored inspires others to take advantage of the next camp.
Since its inception, PRASAD de México has held nearly 217 eye camps and performed free eye surgery on over 34,845 adults and children in many states, including Guanajuato, Guerrero, and Hidalgo states.
Support our work for better eye care.
PRASAD works within local conditions and alongside local cultures to change lives. There are a number of ways you can support PRASAD, whether through ongoing monthly giving or a one-time donation.
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