The gift of sight

Ten years ago, Jennifer Staple-Clark was in her sophomore year at Yale University when she began working at a doctor's office. While there, she watched countless patients lose their eyesight from undiagnosed Glaucoma.
If the patients had gotten their yearly eye examination, the disease would have been treatable and even preventable and would have ultimately saved their eyesight.
To create awareness and provide information about eye care to those who couldn't afford it, Staple-Clark created Unite for Sight, a non-profit organization that globally encourages communities to provide quality eye care and treat preventable blindness.
'It's so important to provide people with information about their eye site,' said Staple-Clark, '[Unite for Sight] started as a small organization and has grown substantially from there.'
Today, the organization has helped over 900,000 receive eye care, and have restored the vision of 30,896 individuals, according to their Web site www.uniteforsight.org.
The organization partners with eye clinics in North America, Africa and Asia to provide them with the volunteers and financial means to perform procedures, surgeries and eye examinations year-round.
With over 6,700 volunteers trained in the past decade, Unite For Site works to break down patient barriers by bringing eye care services to rural areas and city slums, and educating community members about improving their eye care and preventing blindness.
Staple-Clark explains that the organization has four divisions: Community Fellows Program in North American, Global Health & Innovation Conference, Global Health University and Global Impact Corps.
The Community Fellows Program has over 1,000 members in universities across the nation. These Fellows, or volunteers, help to reduce patient barriers by acting as a support for members in their community. They also work to put patients in contact with organizations who can provide free eye care.
Held each year in April, the Global Health & Innovation Conference invites 2,200 participants from across the world to exchange ideas across all disciplines of global health, according to Staple-Clark.
The Global Health University offers training, workshops and opportunities to volunteers and focuses on new strategies and topics in the field of global health.
Offering hands-on experience in global health for students and professionals, the Global Impact Corps gives Fellows the opportunity to learn about effective treatment options and how to assist nurses and optometrists during eye care procedures.
'It's very much for students an immersive global health experience…they are able to travel abroad and see the complexities and realities of global health first hand,' Staple-Clark said.
Each year, over 300 participants travel abroad. This year, Matthew Jackson, a sophomore premedical student studying clinical laboratory science at UB will travel abroad to Chennai, India as a Fellow in May.
'We absolutely love working with students and to have them and their excitement is fantastic. They are able to bring their own skill, expertise and resources for these eye clinics,' Staple-Clark said.
Jackson is interested in doing research while in India on patient barriers. He hopes that his research will be published some day and will make a difference in the treatment of patients.
'There were a lot of opportunities I could have applied for…but I was touched by [Unite for Sight's] Web site ... my research could possibly make things better over in India and treatment could be easier for them to get,' Jackson said.
One of the requirements as a Fellow is obtaining or collecting eyeglasses to pass out to patients while abroad. Jackson has purchased 600 eyeglasses, raised $500 to put towards surgeries for patients, and plans to order sunglasses for patients.
'UB is a big school so I want to raise awareness [through fundraising],' said Jackson. '[Problems like] cataracts are so easily treatable but many people can go blind from them.'
Jackson is still fundraising for Unite for Sight, and can be contacted by e-mail at mrjackso@buffalo.edu. 100 percent of all donations will go directly to the organization and their goal of providing eye care and sight-restoring surgeries to those living in poverty.
'Every dollar makes such a large difference…if you have 50 students who contribute $1 each, that's one person's sight that they have restored,' Staple-Clark said.
To become a Fellow for the Global Impact Corps or to get involved in the community with Unite for Sight, check out their Web site or call (203) 404-4900 for more information.
'We live in a beautiful, multi-cultural world and the ability to experience it through vision is one of the greatest gifts we can give,' Jackson said.

E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com