US Eye Doctors Prepare for Mexico Volunteer Trip myFOXphoenix.com
go to original April 10, 2012

PHOENIX - A group of Arizona doctors are getting ready to take a trip down to Mexico. Their mission is to help give hundreds of people better vision -- and even restore sight to some that are blind.

Dr. Roger Ethington says sometimes we take eye care for granted. Other people are too poor to afford it on their own.

“Simple things like being able to read, to be able to see,” says Dr. Roger Ethington, Southwestern Eye Center.

“They’re lined up when we get to the hospital early in the morning and they stay lined up all day in the heat. Never complain, never get impatient,” says Pat Poatwright.

For 20 years now, Southwestern Eye Center has made the trip down to Mexico’s state of Chihuahua to a community called Nuevo Casas Grandes to help hundreds.

“It’s a wonderful experience and it makes you realize how much we have and sometimes we don’t appreciate,” she says.

Everyone starts with an eye exam. From there they can get prescription glasses or may have to go into surgery. The most common problem they see is cataracts.

“If you leave the cataracts untreated, your vision slowly diminishes and can lead to where you can’t see at all,” says Dr. Ethington.

The founder of Southwestern Eye Care actually grew up in this part of Mexico, and that's how the trip started.

They hope to help more and more every year.

18 people from Southwestern Eye Center are making the 4-day trip. Getting there is no simple task. They have to charter a bus so they can bring all their medical equipment with them.

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