Our Projects
Mission Trips
The international eye institute plans and executes at least two mission trips annually. Most of our work today focuses on Central America, but our teams have reached diverse countries including Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Ghana, India and China. Our dedicated teams include highly skilled surgeons, nurses, and support staff who donate their time and expertise to serve those most in need. Most of our volunteers pay for their own travel and lodging allowing us to apply donated funds directly to patient care. Our teams typically perform between 60-100 sight restoring surgeries on each trip. Over the past 15 years, this collective effort has resulted in over 2,000 surgeries, amounting to an estimated $3.5 million of donated care. We love seeing the way our work transforms the lives of our patients and their family members.
Fellowship
In 2022 the International Eye Institute partnered with local ophthalmologist Dr. Julio De Leon to sponsor a fellowship training program, teaching graduated ophthalmic residents modern cataract surgery (Phacoemulsification). We contribute 50% of the fellow's salary and provide a fully equipped clinic and surgical facility at our partner hospital, Hospitalito Atitlan. The fellow runs a clinic providing broad spectrum eye care to the community of Santiago, Atitlan. Dr. De Leon and the fellow conduct discounted cataract surgeries for surgical patients once a month. Patients that cannot afford subsidized surgery are put on a list to be operated on by our mission teams. Partnering with Dr. De Leon and his fellowship program has increased the quality of care we provide, and multiplied our efforts to eliminate preventable blindness. We estimate that each fellow that graduates from our program has the capacity to match the efforts of our entire organization.
Originally from La Ceiba, Honduras, Dr. Anali Vazquez completed her ophthalmology residency in Guatemala in Jan, 2024. She chose the IEI fellowship to further develop her skills as a cataract and anterior segment surgeon.
Dr. Vasquez participated with the International Eye Institute on their mission trips in May and November of 2024. Her skill and competency as an ophthalmic surgeon have progressed remarkably during this interval under the mentorship of attending physician, Dr. Julio DeLeon.
We are enjoying working with Dr. Vasquez, and watching her progress as she develops into an expert cataract surgeon.
Meet Our Fellow
Dr. Anali Vasquez
Phaco Program
The Maj StormoGipson Memorial Education Fund
Maj StormoGipson, MD, was a pediatrician and an inspirational leader who advanced medical care and education through her work with the International Eye Institute. She was instrumental in establishing IEI’s partnership with Hospitalito, and today the nursing school classroom is dedicated in her honor.
The Maj StormoGipson Memorial Education Fund continues her legacy by supporting the nursing education of local students who speak Mayan languages. Through this effort, the fund helps expand access to quality medical care and strengthens health services for the indigenous community.
One of the challenges faced by fellows graduating from our program is having access to the technology necessary to practice modern cataract surgery. Consistent with our goal to invest in the local delivery of care, we established a partnership with the Oertli phaco technology company in 2023. The Oertli Catarhex 3, is a highly reliable machine well equiped to deliver world class surgery while handling the demands of operating in developing countries. In 2023, Oertli demonstrated their commitment by donating a machine to our fellowship program. Thanks to a generous grant from the Greater New Orleans Foundation's Southern Eye Bank Foundation (gnof.org), we've committed supplying our fellow with an Oertli machine to use while working in our program.
Over the last decade, our efforts have resulted in transporting and outfitting one of the best ophthalmic surgery centers in the region. This center has operating microscopes, Phaco machines, A-scans, IOL master, slit lamps, and an array of surgical devices. These advancements enable us to safely conduct surgeries in an environment that poses some of the most challenging eye surgeries worldwide.
