We are committed to making detailed information about our ongoing activities available to the public. The foundation of our organization is the free flow of knowledge and expertise. It is in that spirit that we hope you will find the following information useful and eye-opening. Until a project is completed, an executive summary, abstract, or proposal will be available, as well as regular updates. When projects are completed, we will post the data here as soon as possible. All documents are current as of their date of posting.
Click to download the executive summary of CatarACT International in Adobe PDF format.
In January 2010, CatarACT International, in partnership with Dr. Michael Gyasi, opened the North Western Eye Centre in Accra, Ghana, on a preliminary basis. The clinic is able to provide basic vision, cataract, glaucoma, and consulting services. In its first few weeks of operation, it has already organized free community screenings, school screenings, provided outpatient services for dozens of patients, and performed some surgeries. To perform its work, the clinic currently employs eight local employees, including Dr. Gyasi.
Going into the future, we are interested in expanding and improving the clinic clinic in several ways, and could use the help of our supporters.
Our clinical and management training program for West African ophthalmologists, nurses, and technicians will provide them the tools to set up their own high-volume, low-cost cataract surgical clinics. GVP trainees will spend two months in a high-volume sustainable hospital training to perform a surgery that produces better results and quicker recovery times for a lower price. They also receive a two-week course in hospital management taught by experts in the field. We will provide high-quality supplementary instruction material assembled exclusively for our program. By training cohorts of healthcare workers from across West Africa, we will build networks of community leaders. These individuals will not only be great contributors to healthcare, but tomorrow’s leaders in politics and civil society.
Drawing from our pool of GVP trainees, we will select individuals to fund on the basis of interest, commitment, and performance. We will fund construction, equipment, and other startup costs, and transition hospitals into self-sufficiency. The CatarACT Network is novel in that we promote local ownership and agency. We will provide the resources for West African healthcare workers to develop their own programs--ones that they own and operate. In their efforts, we will provide assistance, oversight, and support.
To us, global development is more than a process or a choice or an act--it is a movement. Through "Care, Cure, CatarACT," we will provide both education and opportunities to take action in Chicago and across the United Sates. Speaking at universities, community groups, churches, and more, we will show how the efforts to eradicate cataracts are reflectheir own projects.
In April 2008, the "Care, Cure, CatarACT" series presented the Healthcare Pioneers Week, with Drs. V. Panneerselvam and Michael Gyasi as guests. Dr. V. Panneerselvam is Founder and Director of the Arasan Eye Hospital (Erode, India), whose work has provided the model for CatarACT's efforts in West Africa. Dr. Michael Gyasi is a respected and accomplished ophthalmologist and leader in health delivery from Ghana, who will direct the first CatarACT Network hospital in Accra, Ghana.
The Forum will bring together students, professionals, activists, and community leaders to learn and discuss how to engage in development more effectively. South-South technology transfer, local agency, economic sustainability, and human resource development will be among the key principles reinforced through the Forum. We will invite as speakers development experts whose own projects have been effective at achieving independence and sustainability. We will also heavily emphasize interactive workshops. The approximately 50 attendees will bring their ideas and projects to the table, so they can learn from each other. They will refine those ideas atheir efficacy through paradigms of sustainability and local action.
