{"id":2238,"date":"2024-08-20T04:53:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T11:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mercyships.onpressidium.com\/?page_id=2238"},"modified":"2025-11-14T06:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T14:13:07","slug":"eye-care","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/eye-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Optometrist in Africa | Mercy Ships Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t\t\t\"Program\n

\n\t\t\tVolunteer as an Optometrist in Africa\t<\/h1>\n\t

Are you an optometrist seeking a meaningful volunteer opportunity in Africa? Mercy Ships invites you to join our eye care team aboard hospital ships, providing essential eye exams, vision screenings, and training while restoring sight in underserved communities.<\/p>\n

With you and one simple surgery the blind can see!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Volunteer\n

\n\t\t\tWhy Volunteer as an Optometrist in Africa?\t<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\tBlindness and Visual Impairment in Developing Nations\t<\/h3>\n\t

Eye conditions treatable in their early stages in developed nations are frequently left untreated in the poorest parts of the world and often lead to impairment or blindness. The majority of blindness cases are curable and could be avoided by prevention and early treatment. Being blind in developing countries often means being considered an outcast. In fact, most blind children do not survive past the age of five.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tCataract\t<\/h3>\n\t

Outside developed countries, cataracts remain the leading cause of avoidable visual impairment, affecting 50% in sub-Saharan Africa. A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens which impedes the passage of light. Although most cases of cataract are related to the ageing process, occasionally children can be born with the condition, or cataracts can develop after eye injuries, inflammation, or as a result of ocular diseases. Cataract surgery is one of the most cost-effective treatments that can be offered in developing countries.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Eye\n

\n\t\t\tYour Responsibilities as an Eye Care Volunteer\t<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\tTransformational Healthcare through Eye Care Programmes\t<\/h3>\n\t

Mercy Ships aims to prevent the effects of blindness by providing specialised medical treatment. Mercy Ships uses hospital ships supported by shore-based activities to deliver free specialised healthcare to the world’s forgotten poor.<\/p>\n

Mercy Ships ophthalmic surgeons perform free, vital eye operations to restore patients’ sight and improve their quality of life.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOphthalmic Surgery\t<\/h3>\n\t

Cataracts are the most common cause of avoidable blindness worldwide. However, most incidents of cataract blindness are curable, and sight can be restored with a low-cost, suture-less technique. Mercy Ships cataract operations are performed using the latest methods and technology. Mercy Ships eye surgeons perform procedures to correct pterygium (growths on the cornea of the eye), strabismus (crossed eyes), and eyelid deformities, and to replace painful or disfiguring blind eyes with prostheses.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tEducation, Training and Advocacy\t<\/h3>\n\t

In addition to the surgical focus, Mercy Ships provides training opportunities for local surgeons and eye care professionals. This training will help build the in-country capacity to provide eye services.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOphthalmic Care\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\"ms-icon-med-cercle_Eyes\"\n

\n\t\t\tOther Health Topics\t<\/h3>\n\tMaxillofacial Surgery<\/a>\nWomen’s Health<\/a>\nPlastic Reconstructive Surgery<\/a>\nOrthopaedic Program<\/a>\nPalliative Care<\/a>\nGeneral Surgery<\/a>\nDental\/Oral Health<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tAfrican Eye Care Statistics   (Source: WHO)<\/small>\t<\/h3>\n\t
    \n
  • 39 million people are blind worldwide. Most of the world’s blind -about 90% – live in poor nations where eye care is inaccessible.<\/li>\n
  • About 80% of all visual impairment could be avoidable globally. Correction of refractive errors could give normal vision to more than 12 million children (ages 5 to 15).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\"Joan\n\t

    “I saw a documentary about 15 years ago in a hotel room and I sat down on the end of the bed and wept and a voice inside me said ‘one day you will serve on that ship’ it never left me and came to mind often in big and small ways.”<\/p>\n

    \n\t\t\tVolunteer Surgeon, Dr. Joan Ross from Sarnia, ON\t<\/h3>\n

    \n\t\t\tProgram Photos\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Mercy\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDr. Maxime Sovogui, MCB Surgeon, performs an eye surgery with assistance from Dr. Abram Wodome , Ophthalmic Surgeon, and Moise Minedor, Day Crew Translator\/OR Nurse. \u00a9 Mercy Ships\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Jacques\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJacques Marie Elodie before their eye surgeries. \u00a9 Mercy Ships\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ophthalmic\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMercy Ships supports ophthalmic patients in Togo, Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Congo, and Madagascar. \u00a9 Mercy Ships\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Volunteer as an Optometrist in Africa Are you an optometrist seeking a meaningful volunteer opportunity in Africa? Mercy Ships invites […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2250,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Addresses surgical and medical eye needs in environments where preventable blindness is widespread. The primary emphasis of surgical intervention is to reduce blindness as a result of cataracts.","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2238","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2238"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13491,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2238\/revisions\/13491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyships.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}