December 2024 Newsletter

The end of 2024 is here. Our last newsletter features President Santiago’s insights on the goodness of volunteering, we feature several activities from our chapters and partners highlighting collaboration. We renew our call for contributions to the E-Book. VOSH/International wishes to thank all our chapters and partners who shared the news this year. We look forward to learning more about your work in 2025.

President's Insights

President Santiago reflects on the benefits of volunteering to people’s health and happiness. He asks, are we happier when we serve others? are we healthier? what does neuroscience tell us? Read the article in English here.

The Spanish version is here.

Do not miss the chance to tell your story

Decades of humanitarian work worldwide have resulted in countless human stories experienced by VOSH volunteers. Experiences that for different reasons are unforgettable. All VOSH and SVOSH chapters are invited to contribute their stories to the VOSH E-book. The guidelines and the link for the manuscript submission are in English here, and in Spanish here. Chapters can submit their manuscripts until January 31st,2025. Do not miss this opportunity to share your stories.

News from our chapters

SVOSH-FUTO-Nigeria is the chapter of the month!

All VOSH and SVOSH chapters do great humanitarian work. This month, the SVOSH chapter at the Federal University of Technology Owerri in Nigeria has been nominated as Chapter of the Month. Read more about their activities here.

Your chapter could be the next one. Nominations can be made here.

US VOSH leader featured for her patient-centered approach

Dr Kara Foster, President of VOSH-North Carolina is also a visionary entrepreneur. In this Women in Optometry podcast, she shares her journey leading her successful practice in providing direct patient care and being insurance-free. An inspiring leader, Dr Foster also wrote a book called A girl with a vision: a poem of strength and dreams. You can listen to the podcast here.

SVOSH-UNIBEN collaborates for a great eye health awareness week

Every year at the University of Benin in Nigeria, the Nigerian Optometric Students’ Association organizes an eye health awareness week. This year NOSA-UNIBEN joined forces with the SVOSH-UNIBEN chapter under the theme STEEZE (Synergistic Team Work Enhancing Eyecare to its Zenith Excellence). Between December 10 and 14, various activities took place including seminars and visual screenings. A more comprehensive report will be published soon. In the meantime, you can enjoy this selection of pictures here Collaboration is the key to here done SVOSH-UNIBEN and NOSA UNIBEN.

SVOSH-PUCO Amigos Newsletter is available now

The Fall edition of the newsletter of SVOSH-PUCO Amigos, a super-active chapter, is available here. Read all about their local and international humanitarian work and fundraising activities.

News from our partners

An Introduction to the Arclight

Our dynamic young partners of OPTOGLOBE took the lead in organizing a meeting with Dr. Andrew Blaikie, British ophthalmologist at NHS Fife and the University of St Andrews on the Arclight, a portable ophthalmoscope-loupe-otoscope especially useful in low-resource settings.

You can watch the recording here.

Interprofessional collaboration ended trachoma in Pakistan

Eliminating trachoma in Pakistan took a team of committed health and communication professionals supported by the national authorities. The work carried out by Sightsavers in Pakistan demonstrates the importance of inter-professional collaboration and training. More information on this initiative is available here

You can check more inspiring stories of Angels in Medicine here

Resources

Haitian health care in the US

With significant numbers of Haitians moving to the US due to the insecurity in their homeland, it could be useful for US optometrists to know more about the context of this specific group of migrants. The Minnesota Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health has produced this overview for clinicians caring for Haitian new arrivals with useful information on culture, health considerations, and context. They offer similar information and training for other groups of refugees and migrants. Check the brief here.

Thank you for a great 2024

The commitment of VOSH volunteers who lectured, served the communities, mentored students, participated in our activities, and offered their time and expertise to lead committees or be part of our Board of Directors helped us achieve so much. No obstacle was big enough for our volunteers to do the work. A heartfelt thank you to you.

Our donor, Optometry Giving Sight, and loyal sponsors, National Vision, VSP Vision, and Alcon, deserve a special thank you as well as all the individuals who donated resources or equipment for our cause. It is with their support that we can implement our work.

May 2025 be a year of peace, compassion, and collaboration.

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