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Optometry Giving Sight U.S. chair contributes to efforts in Africa
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The chair of the U.S. National Committee for Optometry Giving Sight spent several weeks in Tanzania participating in a long-range project to establish three new vision centers in district hospitals.
Mary Anne Murphy, OD, spent 3 weeks teaching and mentoring local optometrists in vision centers throughout the country that provide much-needed vision care to thousands of people, according to an Optometry Giving Sight press release.
 Dr. Murphy in Tanzania Optometry Giving Sight
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She participated in a project to establish vision centers in the Bariadi, Morogoro and Ruvuma districts of Tanzania, offering eye examinations and affordable glasses to previously underserved communities.
Dr. Murphy found that the local optometrists work without much of the technology taken for granted in the Western world.
“I discovered that you can evaluate a good portion of the anterior segment with nothing more than a flashlight,” she said in the press release. “Without access to my normal tools, I was taken back to the roots of optometry, providing the care that is at the core of our profession by simply listening to the patient.”
Dr. Murphy said she saw first-hand how her donations and those of her colleagues throughout the world were being used to transform lives through the gift of vision.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.givingsight.org or call (888) OGS-GIVE.
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