Program areas at SEE
INTERNATIONAL VISION PROGRAMSEE International transforms lives by restoring sight to those in need. SEE envisions a world where everyone has access to vision care, regardless of who they are, where they live, or their ability to pay.Over the past 45 years, SEE has restored sight to over half a million people around the world. In 2022, we started to see an increase in requests from our volunteer doctors, ready to travel again and continue to restore sight. Although there is some residual aftermath of the unforeseen coronavirus pandemic that halted much of our operations overseas, and in our very own communities in 2020 & 2021, the readiness to restore sight was at a high in 2022. Our volunteers performed more than 40,000 major eye surgeries and 52,000 eye exams, in 34 countries. 12 of which were new to SEE.Care is provided free of charge to the patient thanks to our valued donors, crucial volunteer medical teams, and global partners. When preventable blindness is left untreated, independence is lost not only by the afflicted individual, but also by his or her family and caretakers; approximately 75% of visually impaired people require assistance with everyday tasks. The services provided by SEE empower our patients and their families to fully contribute to their communities AND return to active participation in life and society.
EDUCATION DIVISIONSEE offers courses on Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS) that is a low-cost, lowtech form of cataract extraction that saves time, money, and energy should phacoemulsification not be an option, or the equipment breaks down. Due to the nature of cataracts in areas where we work (hard, dense, and mature), surgeons are unable to use the same measures to remove the cataracts that they would in the US.Since 2006, we have been providing educational opportunities to ophthalmologists andresidents in their final year of school through these courses. We offer two levels of training:Level 1 MSICS courses are a lecture and wet lab for those new to the technique; Level 2 MSICS courses are supervised hands-on surgery in the field. In 2022, SEE held 20 MSICS courses and trained 236 doctors/eye care professionals in the MSICS technique.In 2018, SEE expanded its education division with the Vision 2020 LINKS-USA program which matches international needs with institutional expertise to create stronger vision care systems. That year, the first SEE-guided LINKs project was established between Wills Eye Hospital, in Philadelphia, and the Rwandan International Institute of Ophthalmology (RIIO), in Kigali, Rwanda to establish the first ophthalmic residency program in Rwanda. The RIIO and Wills Eye Hospital LINKs project completed its second year and started its final year in 2020. The success of this partnership led to supporting a second third cycle and are supporting a second LINKS program between Emory University and Addis Ababa University.Furthermore, SEE is proud to have partnered with the first seven institutions that offered Global Ophthalmology Fellowships!
SANTA BARBARA VISION CARE PROGRAMSSEE serves its local community through its Santa Barbara Vision Care Program. In 2022 more than 6,000 people received free eye care from the program. Since the inception of the program, we have served more than 70,000 low-income, uninsured, or underinsured Santa Barbara County and Ventura County community members.In 2022, the Santa Barbara Vision Care Program reinstated the partnership with two large school districts, that was halted during the pandemic, to serve the state mandated grades with eye screenings. This partnership brought light the great need to the children of Santa Barbara County.The program offers safety-net vision care services throughout the county. In addition to providing eye exams, prescriptions, vouchers for glasses, and medications, additional treatments and intensive eye surgeries are coordinated through a network of local volunteer eye surgeons.