This was the first year the iCARE project delivered greatly needed vision care to Exuma, Bahamas!

Our inaugural visit proved a huge success as we served 28% of the total population.

The first day of clinic was a busy one as it was a public holiday. Our volunteer team worked long hours to serve as many patients as possible.

A team of 46 Americans and Canadians served the Exuma community with full eye exams, glasses, medications, and hypertension/diabetes screening at the Sandals Emerald Bay Ballroom.

Stats for the week:

• 1976 eye exams
• 854 health screenings
• 1800 reading glasses distributed
• 2450 sunglasses distributed
• 32.6% of patients examined required prescription glasses

Steven Stern, iCARE Director and volunteers: Jamita Yizar-Stith, Dr. Gary Knowles, and Dr. Roseann Knowles returned to the Bahamas in November to distribute the prescription glasses needed by 642 of our patients.

To see a slide show of the clinic week, or read our annual report, click the button below.

iCARE had a fantastic two weeks of service in Jamaica in 2023!

Our team consisted of 80 Americans and Canadians over the course of two weeks. We hosted clinics at Open Bible Church - Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland and Shiloh Apostolic Church - Mango Valley, St. Mary, also Beaches Ochi and schools.

Our 5-person team also conducted a week of surgery at Cornwall Hospital in Montego Bay, St. James.

Patients in great need received full eye exams, glasses (reading,

sun, & prescription), pathology referrals, medications, cataract and MIG (minimally invasive glaucoma) surgery, PRP (panretinal photocoagulation) laser procedures for diabetic retinopathy, and hypertension/diabetes screenings.

In St. Mary, we sent teams to Boscobel All Age, Exchange All Age, and Mango Valley Basic schools to screen a combined 393 children. Those with issues were referred to our main clinic in Mango Valley for further treatment. Additionally, we conducted a two-hour clinic Tuesday evening at Beaches Ochi to serve 53 employees unable to travel to our Mango Valley clinic.

2023 Jamaica Highlights:

• 15 years serving the Caribbean!
• 3807 patients served
• 672 pairs of glasses
• 1400+ diabetes and hypertension screenings
• These patients educated on how to improve their health, and received referrals to local doctors

Since 2009, iCARE has provided 30 weeks of clinics, 7 weeks of cataract/MIG surgeries, and served more than 56,700 with free eye care services, blood pressure, and blood sugar screenings!

For more stories, click the videos to view our slideshow or the button below to read our annual report.

Since 2008, SuperKids has boosted literacy in partnership with our Jamaican schools. 2023 served as the second season for students at Brompton Primary, New Hope Primary, and Savanna la Mar Primary.

In addition, small-group Language Arts instruction took place for the second year with 51 volunteers offering targeted instruction to 178 students. The focus being on foundational reading, fluency,

and comprehension skills.

To make the most impact, each school identified students one-two years below grade level, and that the school believed could make meaningful progress with two weeks of additional support.

After two weeks, the overall improvement for the three schools was 18.2%.

Volunteers also offered whole-class Literacy Enrichment Programs in Computer Literacy, Science, Art, and Music. In total, SuperKids 2023 volunteers

interacted with over 1,000 students across three school sites.

The Impact:

• 8000 children and families served thru distributions:
• 15,000 books
• 350 computers
• 15,000 lbs of school supplies, art supplies & sports equipment

Our computer team installed and refurbished computers at 29 locations which provide priceless access to thousands of Jamaican children.

Volunteers also replaced large high school labs: Green Island High (1), Black River High (2), and Ruseas High (1). Black River High was in desperate need, where we replaced 15 year old computers. Ruseas High had an awesome lab completely setup with new desks, cabling and power, but they didn't have any computers. They were thrilled to receive computers for their lab.

2023 marked our 12th year of computer skills instruction, and 8th year of language arts and behavior management.

This year we were hosted by Ocho Rios High School in Ocho Rios.

During the 14 days in the classroom,

volunteers from the U.S., Canada and Jamaica provided 3345 continuing education hours to a wide variety of educators. Basic, Primary and High School teachers attended as well as school counselors, security

officers, Deans of Discipline, Vice Principals, and other administrators.

Each week 89 Jamaican educators and others interested in education attended the three-week workshops.

Language Arts (Week 1 & 2): three instructional teams appropriate to grade level. Units provided based on feedback from previous Jamaican attendees and the MInistry of Education and Youth.

Week 2, Behavior Management focused primarily on the difference in student behavior post-Covid. Practical skills and strategies were shared with teachers to create a more productive learning environment. We placed an emphasis on the students' particular social and emotional needs so that behavior doesn't become a barrier to learning.

Numeracy (Week 1 & 2): This year instructors included master mathematician teachers trained in techniques from Harvard School of Education.

Both Weeks, Computer Training: the focus for this year's class once

again targeted developing online resources and the use of online web apps.

New in 2023: Teach the Teachers was lucky to have an Autism and ADHD specialist from Canada provide instruction for a week about students with special education needs.

Turks & Caicos

1000 Smiles had another successful project serving 4280 people, including patients and children in our oral health education program

We saw the largest number of volunteers yet in Turks, with a team size of 130 from the US, Canada, Jamaica, Grenada, and beyond. They provided life-saving dental care to thousands over the course of two weeks.

Impact by the numbers:

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• 5577 procedures provided
• 13,478 toothbrushes, paste, and floss distributed
• $1.3M USD - Total value of the program

We operated over five clinics to ensure we expanded service to our most needed communities. This level of operation took the careful coordination and dedication of the Pastor of the Curch of God of Prophecy, Pastor Wesley Missick, the local dental nurses, and dentists, the Ministry of Health, Beaches Turks & Caicos, and the 1000 Smiles Eastern Caribbean leadership team.

Grenada

This year marked our 4th year serving the Spice Island!

Highlights included working in National Cricket Stadium once again as our primary clinic site. Our team of nearly 100 volunteers worked tirelessly to provide greatly needed dental care to 1,788 patients.

In addition, we launched an exciting new initiative spearheaded by the Grenada Dental Association called "Seal Grenada."

Seal Grenada was planned and organized by a committee comprised of local and

international members from different dental organizations. The program provided sealants, fluoride application and other services to children in five primary schools in the parish of St. David.

The team was based at the Corinth Primary School and the turn out was overwhelming! Special thanks to Leanne Rodine, Bev Woods and Dr. Dubois for leading our inaugural Seal Grenada project.

Jamaica

In 2023, 1000 Smiles ran for 8 weeks in the summer to late fall and delivered free dental care services to six different parishes.

426 volunteers saved the smiles of nearly 16.5K in Jamaica!

We were blessed to host a mix of dedicated veteran volunteers and enthusiastic new dental teams and volunteers. We were also so grateful for our dental student and dental hygiene student programs that joined us.

Big UP to OIT Klamath Falls, Midwestern - AZ, Midwestern - IL, University of Western Ontario, UCLA, UW, University of the Pacific, and St. Petersburg.

We were also thrilled to have our first group of dental therapy students join us from Skagit Valley!

Spring Sealant

In mid-April a team of 32 served 391 students with sealants, cleanings, and exams.

Special thanks to Pacific University dental hygiene students and Henry Schein Cares who made this sealant project so successful.