Hi all,

Many of you may be interested in this international volunteer opportunity.  Feel free to forward this message to anyone who might be interested.  The programs are filling quickly, and prospective volunteers are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.  Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer opportunities available.

What is Unite For Sight's Mission? Unite For Sight (www.uniteforsight.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers communities worldwide to improve eye health and eliminate preventable blindness.

What Do Volunteers Do?: Unite For Sight’s volunteers range from undergraduate and medical students, educators, nurses, and public health professionals to optometrists and ophthalmologists.  The volunteers serve as interns at eye clinics.  The eye clinic’s eye doctors and Unite For Sight volunteers jointly participate on community-based screening programs.  The clinic’s eye doctors diagnose and treat eye disease in the field, and surgical patients are brought to the eye clinic for surgery.  Unite For Sight funds the surgeries for those patients unable to afford eye care.

How Do I Apply?  The application as well as complete details about Unite For Sight's international opportunities are available at http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunteer/

What Do Volunteers Say?: "Working with the eye clinic's team, we were able to treat over 1000 patients and perform sight-restoring cataract surgery on hundreds of patients!  I saw more pathology than I will probably ever see as a resident in the U.S.  Going to India was one of the best decisions of my life. The satisfaction of giving the gift of sight back to someone who was practically blind is immeasurable.  For the first time in over 10 years, a frail and elderly female villager was able to see her reflection in the mirror.  She stood up and walked out of the hospital without the help of the nurses, holding a small plastic bag filled with her life belongings, close against her green sari.  This memory I will never forget.  It was at that point that I realized the significance of why we were there and what we had done.  We made a difference."  --Walid Mangal, Medical Student, Unite For Sight Volunteer in Chennai and Erode, India

"My experience as a Unite for Sight Volunteer in Hohoe, Ghana was life-changing.   While my time there was everything I had hoped for as a rewarding medical internship, I never imagined that it would also teach me so much about the world community and the universality of human life.  The friends I made in this hospitable community taught me about their lives and welcomed me into their remarkable culture.   I was excited to be able to offer them something in return with an eye screening program that was greatly needed in the community.  I had no idea before my summer in Hohoe that doing something as simple as giving a person eyeglasses and watching them see clear shapes for the first time could be as encouraging, invigorating, and fulfilling as I found it to be. I came away from my UFS internship with a sense of self-worth and pride in having been able to help a group of people that I had grown to respect, admire, and consider my lifelong friends. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of Unite for Sight's International Volunteer community." --Charlotte Hogan, Georgetown University Student, Unite For Sight Volunteer in Ghana

What Do Eye Clinics Say?: "So many people tell me to thank you and your family each day for the help you have given by giving sight to the poor. Our desire to serve and poor patients desire to see would not have been possible without the help and support of Unite For Sight." --Dr. Ajit Sinha, Director, A.B. Eye Institute; President, All India Ophthalmological Society

"It is a great pleasure to work with Unite For Sight in Ghana to achieve the goals of Vision2020, the Right to Sight global initiative launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).  Unite For Sight's high quality programs are very very useful and greatly valued in Ghana.  Unite For Sight has touched the lives of so many people in Ghana and reduced the suffering of mankind.  A continuation of the program is very much welcome as many people now see them as a symbol of hope." --Dr. James Clarke, Ophthalmologist and Medical Director, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana

What Programs Are Available?

Fall 2006

Africa

Accra, Ghana View details

September 1-30; October 1-31; November 1-30; December 1-30 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Patriensa Village in Asante Akim District, Ghana View details

September 1-30; October 1-31; November 1-30; December 1-30 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Tamale, Ghana View details

August 25 - September 25; September 25 - October 15 (volunteers may participate for more than 1 session)

Asia

Bihar, India View details

October 16-31; November 1-15; November 15-30

Chennai, India View details

September 1-30; September 15-October 15; October 1-31; October 15-November 15; November 1-30; November 15-December 15; December 1-30 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Dhenkanal, Orissa, India View details

November 1 - December 20

Indian Himalayas, India View details

October 22 - November 4

Western Thailand, Thailand View details

August 16 - September 8; September 9 - October 9; October 9 - November 9 (volunters may participate in more than 1 session)

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Winter 2006

Africa

Accra, Ghana View details

December 15 - December 30; January 1 - January 15 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Patriensa Village in Asante Akim District, Ghana View details

December 15-December 30; January 1-January 15 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Asia

Bihar, India View details

December 28 - January 10; February 1-15

Chennai, India View details

December 1-30; December 15-January 15; December 28 - January 10; January 1-30; January 15-February 15

Jaipur, India View details

December 28 - January 10

New Delhi, India View details

December 20 - January 14

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Spring 2007

Africa

Accra, Ghana View details

January 1-31; February 1-28; March 1-30; March 10-April 10; April 18-May 18; May 1-30 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Patriensa Village in Asante Akim District, Ghana View details

January 1-31; February 1-28; March 1-30; March 10 - April 10; April 18 - May 18; May 1-30 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Tamale, Ghana View details

Program options: January 10 - March 10; March 10 - April 8 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Asia

Bihar, India View details

Flexible Dates for 2 weeks

Chennai, India View details

January 1-31; January 15-February 15; February 1-28; February 15-March 15; March 1-30; March 15-April 15; April 1-30; April 15-May 15; May 1-30 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Dhenkanal, Orissa, India View details

February 1-28

Jaipur, India View details

March 10-20

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Summer 2007

Africa

Asikuma, Ghana View details

July 1-31

Patriensa Village in Asante Akim District, Ghana View details

May 10-30; June 1-30; July 1-31; August 1-31 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Tamale, Ghana View details

May 20 - July 1; July 1 - August 15 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Asia

Bihar, India View details

May 25 - June 10; July 1-15; July 15 - 31

Chennai, India View details

May 10 - May 30; June 1-31; June 15-July 15; July 1-31; July 15-August 15; August 1-15; August 15-30 (volunteers may participate in more than 1 session)

Dhenkanal, Orissa, India View details

June 15 - July 15; July 15 - August 15

Jaipur, India View details

August 15-30

Jodhpur, India View details

July 1-August 1

New Delhi, India View details

June 1-30, July 1-31, August 1-15

Western Thailand, Thailand View details

May 19 - July 1; July 1 - August 15