Tegucigalpa, Honduras Program Details
Unite For Sight is excited to announce the opening of a new program in Honduras.
Program Overview
Unite For Sight volunteers work with COVA Eye Clinic (Centro Oftamalogico Vida Abundante), which is based in Tegucigalpa. The eye clinic's staff and Unite For Sight volunteers provide screening outreach programs in remote rural villages that are located 1-3 hours from the capital city of Tegucigalpa. The team of eye technicians and Unite For Sight volunteers 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 COVA in Tegucigalpa. In Tegucigalpa, the patients receive care and sight-restoring surgery by the ophthalmologist team at the clinic, led by Dr. Eduardo Flores, the Medical Director.
Additionally, vounteers 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 referred to ophthalmologist Dr. Eduardo Flores and his team of doctors at COVA in Tegucigalpa.
Volunteers also participate at the COVA clinic in Tegucigalpa to assist the clinic with patients who come to see the doctors.
Volunteers participating during the December 28-January 10 time period will be involved in the first Unite For Sight partnered program with COVA.
Who Can Volunteer
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.
What Volunteers Do
Standard Volunteers
Volunteers 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 or 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. Volunteers also have an opportunity to observe the surgeries provided by the ophthalmic team at the eye clinic. The previously blind patients leave COVA after surgery with restored sight.
Living and Lodging
Volunteers lodge at the Guadalupe Hotel near the clinic in Tegucigalpa. A double room with shared occupancy costs $21 per day, or approximately $10.50 per person. A single room costs $18 per day. The room has a television, cable, telephone, hot water, and a fan. Air conditioning is not provided at the hotel. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be purchased at a variety of fast food or national small restaurants near the hotel and the clinic.
Special Section For Students: Academic Credit and Clinical Rotations
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 necessary paperwork required of your university so that you can receive academic credit.
