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Left to right: Paraguay’s First Lady, María Gloria Penayo de Duarte; Dave McComiskey, Executive Director of cbm Canada; Dr. Rainald Duerksen |
Things will soon be looking a lot better for thousands of poor, blind Paraguayans.
It took four years of planning and fundraising to give birth to a $1.2 million eye hospital in Paraguay's capital Asuncion.
The facility will open its doors this summer after 200 Christian Blind Mission (CBM) Canada supporters donated $800,000 to the organization, which was started by Paraguayan ophthalmologist Dr. Rainald Duerksen.
"He realized that there were thousands of poor people in Paraguay who needed eye care, specifically surgery for cataract," Dave McComiskey, CBM Canada's executive director, said yesterday.
In Paraguay, 40% of the people live off less than $2 a day and have little medical care; there are more than 36,000 people who suffer blindness, of which 60% is preventable. But 90% of the ophthalmologists work in the city and cater primarily to the wealthy.
"I met one lady who has been blind for seven years and her shin was just bleeding because she kept banging into things," McComiskey said. "We were able to take her, give her surgery and just turn her life around."
Duerksen and his team now have the tools to train local ophthalmologists. The hospital will serve paying and non-paying patients, with money from the paying patients helping cover operating cost and care for those in need.
