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This is the story of how a pair of glasses gets donated - processed - and dispensed to a patient in the Ixcán.

 
ENFOQUE IXCÁN
eye care and health education for
the people of the Ixcán region of Guatemala
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Organization History

 

Guatemala’s Ixcán region, with over 100,000 residents, is located in the northwestern part of the country near the Mexican border. In 1996, while visiting the area, Portland, OR, optometrist Dr. Scott Pike met a poor Mayan subsistence farmer, named Pedro Chom. Pedro lived in a co-operatively formed village, Santa Maria Tzeja.

This chance meeting would change both their lives.

Every member of the co-operative is expected to volunteer for the good of the village and Pedro contributed a few hours of his time each week to work as a “health promoter”. To compensate for the lack of doctors in these remote areas, the government trains local residents on the basics of health care. From minor injuries to delivering a baby, they become the “health needs go-to people”. Although he took pride in and enjoyed his work as a health promoter Pedro was going to quit his job because he was having difficulty reading the instructions on the medicines he dispensed to his patients.

Dr. Pike realized that all Pedro needed was reading glasses. Like most other people in the Ixcán, he had no access to eye care and was too poor to afford it. The nearest eye doctor was six to ten hours away in the city of Coban. Few could afford the ride (in the back of a truck), the time away from their farms and families, or the doctors fees. When Dr. Pike returned to Portland he made up a pair of glasses and sent them back to Pedro.

Dr. Pike returned to the village the next year and with Pedro’s assistance launched an eye care project for this village. Enfoque Ixcán was born. The name Enfoque Ixcán means “Focusing on the Ixcán”. Through the years Pedro took on more and more of the village’s healthcare responsibilities and now, 12 years later, his volunteer work has evolved into a fulltime paid position.

Purpose of the Organization

Over 40% of the people of the Ixcán area need glasses. Almost 5% are going blind with cataracts. While most cataracts are found on older people, children and young adults are also being diagnosed with them.

Since 1996 Dr. Pike has methodically developed the project to bring primary eye care to this extraordinarily underserved population. Every year he spends a week in Santa Maria Tzeja teaching first Pedro, and now also Felipe Panjoj, EI’s newest eye health promoter, the basics of eye care including anatomy, optics, refraction, eye glasses dispensing, and disease recognition. Each time he visits, Dr. Pike takes the two men additional equipment and over time their skills and abilities have developed. To date they have examined over 400 people from more than 20 different villages. The availability of affordable eye care brings people to Santa Maria Tzeja from all across the Ixcán. Glasses are dispensed from an inventory which Dr. Pike re-stocks on his twice yearly visits. He also sends supplies with other people who visit the area.

Dr. Pike's Philosophy

“I knew, and expected, when I started this adventure that it was a long term project. The Ixcán has over 100,000 residents. Most, like Pedro, cannot afford eye care. Because of the poverty of this region, it is very unlikely that an eye care professional will settle there in the near future. But, the last 12 years have shown us that the model we started works.

The underlying philosophy of Enfoque Ixcán is that the most appropriate help we have to offer is to train local people to help themselves. Our goal is to provide the training and resources which empower local health promoters and Guatemalan doctors to treat and care for their neighbors. It is our belief that improved vision and eye care substanstially increase one’s dignity and quality of life.”

Growth of Enfoque Ixcán

As the project expanded beyond Dr. Pike’s ability to personally cover expenses, Enfoque Ixcán was formed as a charitable organization in 2005. It received its 501©3 status in May 2006.

Visualiza

In 2002, Dr. Pike forged a relationship with an eye clinic named Visualiza in Guatemala City. This venture has enabled EI to send people for procedures such as cataract and other eye surgeries for a minimal outlay of US dollars. Since 2003, the organization has funded 34 surgeries, thus improving the quality of life for many families. Visualiza’s special fees for the poor, called “social service” fees, enable EI to pay for a patient’s cataract surgery (ies) plus travel, food and lodging for six days for approximately $250. All of the patients EI sends to Visualiza qualify as social service patients.

Amigos Eyecare of Pacific University

In 2003, Dr. Pike began working with an education supervisor in the Ixcán named Apolonio Gonzales who has over 60 schools – 4,000 students – under his supervision. None of those young people had regular vision care. This concerned Gonzales who knew how important vision is to learning and he wanted to create a vision care program for his students.

To address this problem, Dr. Pike launched an annual trip to the Ixcán with optometry students from Pacific University College of Optometry in Forest Grove, OR where he is an assistant professor. Each group spends a week visiting village schools in the far reaches of the Ixcán, checking eyes and dispensing glasses to children and adults alike. In their six visits they have seen 3,200 patients, dispensed over 1200 pairs of glasses, and identified over 100 people needing cataract surgeries. Those recommended to have surgery are referred to Felipe who arranges trips to Visualiza. He or Pedro follow-up with each patient one week and then one month after surgery to make sure they are healing properly.

Guatemalan Ministry of Health

In 2006, Pedro and Felipe, along with Dr. Pike, visited the local public health office. After explaining EI’s work, the two men were recognized as official eye health promoters for the Ixcán by the Guatemalan Ministry of Health. The Ministry’s public health doctor has offered to assist EI with health training opportunities as well as patient transportation to Visualiza. In time, EI hopes to work more closely with this government health office, realizing that inter-institutional collaboration will strengthen the project.

Cooperative Ventures with Local Optometrists

Dr. Pike and EI’s Board believe that when the organization has created a solid infrastructure of locally provided eye health care, Guatemalan optometrists will be willing to make periodic visits to the region and offer a new level of professional care supported by EI’s team of eye health promoters. One such professional has already visited the area twice, and another has indicated an interest in doing so.

 
Enfoque Ixcán is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization