In 2008 we developed a project in our local community with a group of professional optometrists from the UK. We set up temporary eye clinics in a number of community settings known to Project Peru, to identify those most in need, to do eye tests and provide glasses. These examinations were carried out in the refuge itself with both children and staff, in the medical centre at Zapallal, and in Las Laderas. The group examined in excess of 1,650 patients and dispensed over 800 pairs of spectacles during a 10-day period in November 2008.
Later, in 2016, Project Peru hosted a visit by the Amigos Eye Care group from the Pacific University (Oregon) College of Optometry. See http:/www.amigoseyecare.org
The group consisted of three qualified optometrists and nine students from the US and Canada. They stayed at the refuge and we planned sessions for the children and some of their families as well as the staff in the refuge, in Las Laderas and, through our contacts there, in Cusco. In their four days of clinic, they were able to check the eye health for over 500 people and to hand out over 300 pairs of recycled glasses and sunglasses to those who needed them. At the same time, more precise prescriptions were made where needed and made up in the US on their return; these were then completed and sent to Peru for distribution.
