Tegucigalpa, Honduras Program Details
Program Overview
Unite For Sight Global Impact Fellows work with Centro de Salud Integral Zoe (formerly COVA Eye Clinic), which is based in Tegucigalpa. The eye clinic's staff and Unite For Sight Global Impact Fellows provide outreach programs in remote rural villages that are located 1-3 hours from the capital city of Tegucigalpa. The team of eye doctors and Unite For Sight Global Impact Fellows are transported on a van to the villages during the morning, and they return to Tegucigalpa in the late afternoon. Sometimes the team stays overnight for up to two nights closer to a village that may be further from Tegucigalpa.
In the villages, more than 100 patients each day receive an exam, diagnosis, eyeglasses, medication, and treatment. Patients requiring ophthalmic care and surgery are transported from the villages to the eye clinic in Tegucigalpa. At the eye clinic, the patients receive care and sight-restoring surgery by the ophthalmologist team at the clinic, led by Dr. Eduardo Flores, the Medical Director.
Additionally, Global Impact Fellows participate with an eye technician at the San Lorenzo Clinic Screening Center in San Lorenzo, where patients are screened for cataracts and eye disease. Patients receive eyeglasses on-site by the Tech in Optometry as needed. Those requiring eye treatment, medication, and surgery, are brought to ophthalmologist Dr. Eduardo Flores and his team of doctors at Central de Salud Integral Zoe in Tegucigalpa.
Global Impact Fellows also participate at the eye clinic in Tegucigalpa to assist the clinic with patients.
Educational Opportunities
This program provides an extensive and immersive global health experience, and Global Impact Fellows learn about the complexities and realities of global health and social entrepreneurship from the Unite For Sight program as well as from the eye clinic staff.
Additionally, for those with a special interest in medicine, ophthalmology, or optometry, the eye clinic's staff provide opportunities to learn ophthalmic and optometric skills. Global Impact Fellows also have an opportunity to observe cataract and pterygium surgeries provided at the eye clinic.
Who Can Be A Global Impact Fellow in Tegucigalpa
This program is suitable to anyone 18 years and older who has an interest in international service and health. Volunteers range from gap year students, undergraduate students, and medical students to public health students, public health professionals, nurses, educators, opticians, and others.
An ability to understand and speak Spanish is a requirement. Full fluency in Spanish is not required, but it is very important for volunteers to be proficient and be able to communicate well in Spanish with the patients.
What Global Impact Fellows Do
Standard Global Impact Fellows
Global Impact Fellows assist the ophthalmic technician and doctors in all aspects of the eye care programs. They take patient history, test visual acuity, assist the eye tech and doctors with the examination, distribute medication and eyeglasses prescribed by the technician, provide eye health education in the villages and schools, and help with the coordination of patient surgeries. Global Impact Fellows also have an opportunity to observe the surgeries provided by the ophthalmic team at the eye clinic. The previously blind patients leave the eye clinic after surgery with restored sight.
Eye Care Professional Volunteers
Ophthalmologist volunteers work daily with the ophthalmologists at the eye clinic to provide ophthalmic care and perform surgeries. Optometrists work with the eye clinic's local optometrist to provide optometric care in the rural villages.
Increasing numbers of Unite For Sight ophthalmologist and optometrist volunteers are bringing their teenage children to accompany them to the Unite For Sight program. The eye care professionals and their family members are able to participate in varying capacities to provide eye care to patients living in extreme poverty. The teenagers participate as standard volunteers, while the optometrists and ophthalmologists work with the local Honduran ophthalmic staff to provide optometric and ophthalmic services. Those interested in this opportunity are encouraged to view the video by Dr. Rose, who participated in Ghana with his wife and three teenage daughters. Each family member interested in participating is required to apply separately to the program and submit individual pre-departure requirements.
Filmmaker and Photography Volunteers
Unite For Sight filmmaker and photographer volunteers document the voices of patients who receive sight-restoring eye care through Unite For Sight programs. The videos and photos promote awareness and information about global eye care needs and also demonstrate the commitment and dedication of Unite For Sight's local partner eye doctors who work tirelessly to provide eye care to those living in extreme poverty. The opportunity allows students, filmmakers, and photographers an opportunity to learn about development issues while making a significant impact.
Living and Lodging Expenses
While in Tegucigalpa, volunteers lodge in a rented apartment across the street from the eye clinic. Global Impact Fellows have two lodging options. They have an option to lodge alone in a single room for $35 per day, or they can share the single room with another volunteer for $17.50 per day. Another option is to lodge in a complete apartment which includes a kitchen. They can lodge alone in the apartment for $45 per day, or they can share the apartment with another volunteer for $22.50 per day. Both lodging options include a closet, warm water, cable television, air conditioning, and internet. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be purchased at a variety of fast food or national small restaurants near the hotel and clinic. Each meal is approximately $3-5.
Volunteers also have days when lodging is free of charge when they stay overnight in field outreach sites and lodge, for example, at the eye clinic's affiliated orphanage in San Lorenzo.
Special Section For Students: Academic Credit, Clinical Rotations, and Research
This program is suitable for undergraduate and public health students interested in pursuing an internship for academic credit, as well as for medical and optometry students interested in pursuing a clinical rotation for academic credit. You should consult your academic institution regarding how you can arrange this type of course credit. Unite For Sight will complete student performance evaluations required by a university so that a student can receive academic credit. We can also provide a letter for the university that confirms a student's planned participation in the Unite For Sight program, as well as details regarding the student's pre-departure online global health coursework and global health field participation. Please read the Academic Credit section of the Unite For Sight website.
This program is also appropriate for undergraduate students, medical students, optometry students, and public health students who would like to pursue a community-based field research project, which requires that the student have a faculty mentor at their home institution as well as Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Those interested in research should read the Global Impact Lab and Entrepreneurial Volunteering sections of the Unite For Sight website.
Video Presentations, Films, and Narratives About Unite For Sight's Program in Honduras
Unite For Sight in Honduras Photo Journal by James Baraldi>>
Photo Journal of Honduras Experience by Abraar Karan >>
Unite For Sight Medical Advisory Board Member Peter Egbert, MD, Speaks About Volunteering at COVA Eye Clinic
Unite For Sight Program Development Fellow Abraar Karan Discusses Participating in Honduras
Unite For Sight Volunteer Jim Baraldi Discusses Volunteering in Honduras