October 2023 Newsletter

This month we held our Annual Meeting, installed a new President and organized a fundraising dinner to support our SVOSH chapter in Haiti. This issue includes updates on all those activities and results of the poster competition, recipients of the research grants, an invitation for a COPE course on diabetes mellitus, WSD activities and much more. Do not keep this information to yourself, be a VOSHER and share it.

President's Insights

This month we welcomed our new President Dr Hector Santiago. This time we share a summary of his acceptance speech delivered on October 15^th at our Annual Meeting.

We look forward to working with him. Read the summary of his acceptance speech here.

2023 Annual Meeting

This year our annual meeting took place on Sunday, October 15^th in New Orleans and via Zoom. We welcomed 65 participants in person and 104 participants via Zoom. The theme of “Transforming access through technology and innovation” gathered a great team of presenters who took us on a journey covering low vision, retinoscopy, telemedicine, clinical data management, OCT, and insights into the WHO SPECS program. VOSH/International Humanitarian of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to two remarkable volunteers. Our new President was inaugurated, Board members confirmed, and we expressed gratitude to four departing Board members and all our volunteers who make our work possible. Optomed demonstrated its portable retinal camera during the break. Our Annual Meeting would not be possible without the support of our sponsors. A big thank you to National Vision Inc, VSP Global, and Alcon for their support of this important activity. The videos of the individual sessions will be available on Vimeo soon. In the meantime, please enjoy the selection of pictures of the day here.

Dining with a purpose

On October 14^th we organized a networking dinner in New Orleans to raise funds to continue supporting the students of the SVOSH-UEH-FMPEO in Haiti. Thanks to everyone who attended the event. We raised $1,732 towards getting the first graduating class of Haitian optometrists, the basic tools of their trade. Enjoy some pictures of the lovely dinner here.

2023 VOSH/International Awards

Harry Zeltzer Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr Ann Edmonds, president of VOSH-Oregon received the Lifetime Achievement Award for dedicating her life to humanitarian work and for mentoring and inspiring hundreds of young optometrists to become involved in volunteering work. Read some insights about Dr Edmonds here.

Humanitarian of the Year Award

Dr Mark Rakoczy, President of VOSH-PA was presented with the Humanitarian of the Year Award for his remarkable leadership, courage, and commitment to the people of Haiti. Dr Rakozcy’s shared his journey to humanitarian work in a very emotive and sincere speech. Read more here.

Other activities

Poster competition winners

The competition intends to motivate more VOSH chapters to analyze the data collected during their humanitarian clinics. We thank the participants this year. The evaluation committee scored the submissions (80% of the score) and the participants of the annual meeting were invited to cast their votes for the remaining 20% of the score. The winners of the competition per category are:

-Cat 1:US VOSH chapter: VOSH-NW (97 points)

-Cat 2:US SVOSH chapter: SVOSH-IAUPR (59 points)

-Cat 3: International VOSH chapter: VOSH-Sinaloa-Mexico (90 points)

-Cat 4: International SVOSH chapter: SVOSH-MCU-the Philippines (83 points)

Each winner will receive $1000 to contribute to their next humanitarian clinic.

Congratulations!!! You will get more details soon.

Celebrating World Diabetes Day with a COPE course

Join us for a COPE-accredited course to update our knowledge about diabetes mellitus.

Thanks to our colleagues at the Universidad Autonoma de la Laguna for sharing their knowledge.

Research grants allocated

The Education Committee received 14 complete proposals. The following four proposals were selected to receive a grant of $2000 to implement the selected project.

-SVOSH-KNUST Ghana- Dietary Carotenoids on Cognitive and Vision Health of School Children in Ghana.

-SVOSH-IMSU-Nigeria - Evaluation of Ocular Signs of Onchocerciasis (River blindness) in Selected Rural Communities in the Imo River Basin, Imo State, Nigeria.

-SVOSH-AAU-Jordan- Evaluation of the effectiveness of training schoolteachers to conduct vision screening for schoolchildren in Jordan.

-SVOSH-AreaAndina-Colombia- Beginning to See the World

The Education Committee will organize training in 2024 to support the development of proposals for the 2024 call. Watch the space.

World Sight Day activities

Did you do something special for World Sight Day? We would love to know. A few updates below.

Sunglasses for the university security guards in Jordan

The SVOSH-AAU chapter in Jordan showed their love for eyes at work by providing sunglasses to the security guards on their campus who struggled with the harsh sun and were unable to access affordable and high-quality sunglasses. Well done SVOSH-AAU for taking care of those who work close to you.

National campaign in Panama

Panamanian SVOSH-UDELAS participated in a big activity where different companies and stakeholders worked together for the same purpose of giving vision to all. A great example of collaboration.

Joint awareness raising in Times Square, NY

VOSH/International joined efforts with the Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC) to place an ad in Times Square, New York during the week of the WSD taking advantage of an opportunity offered to us. The key message was to ensure children get eye exams.

Requests from our chapters

Optometrists needed

VOSH-South Dakota is looking for optometrists to join them in their 2024 humanitarian clinic in Gomez Palacio, Mexico. The clinic is scheduled for February 3-11, 2024 and volunteers only need to cover their airfare to Torreon, Mexico. If you are interested please contact Jenny Ness at 605-210-3141 or sdvosh@gmail.com

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