About Us
Canadian Vision Care in Jamaica
CVC, Lions. A working partnership of volunteers since 1981
The Lions Club of Montego Bay has been the lead club with Canadian Vision Care (CVC) in a partnership that really began when Dr. Gerry Leinweber, Andy Patterson and Steve Matthews, then students at the University of Waterloo in Canada travelled to Jamaica to do an internship. With first hand knowledge of the plight of the people and the sad state of affairs in vision care for the poor, Gerry convinced Gord Hensel and Brad Almond to join him and Andy to form a charity for a long-term partnership. This partnership with not only Montego Bay Lions, but clubs across the island, the role of the local clubs and their responsibility was for the following:
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Customs handling in getting the essential permits, waivers, exemptions.
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Handling all transportation needs, meeting team at airport, getting loaded.
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Handling accommodations, historically clubs got rooms donated.
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Arrange volunteers to run clinics from local service clubs, churches, etc.
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The local Lions screened patients throughout the parish for the clinics.
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The resources of Lion Club International is a tremendous oversight for sight grants. CVC has received smaller grants over the years for equipment. Our first major grant application was approved in 2008 but the MOH could not get paperwork signed in 6 months, so LCIF backed away. A more recent grant for 1 Million US was turned down, with questions raised as with the sustainability of the venture. This application process and review is done with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the overall impact for oversight is positive. After the recent trip to Guatemala City by Dr. Leinweber to better appreciate the way to build a self-sustaining clinic, a new application will be made.
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Through such partnerships, CVC the Lions and others can build capacity not only in Montego Bay, but throughout Jamaica.
A normal CVC visit does not happen overnight. This takes months’ worth of preparation by local Lions. Once the Sight Chairman of the Lions Club has been appointed in June, he or she starts making plans for the first visit in November. This entails appointing members setting up meetings, making phone calls for various clubs, hotels, restaurants in getting meals, government entities and other stakeholders.
The sheer volume of work each club takes on is so tremendous that some sight chairmen can’t take any vacation during the initial preparation. In order for any pull clinic days off to make run a smooth as possible, we have to do is get other people assist whether it is taking the time off from work, or leasing with service clubs to get volunteers to help.
The club ensures that the venue is prepared and they also work, in areas of registration, organizing, crowd control which is not an easy task, marshalling, documenting to ensure that all patients information, venue cleaning up at the end clinic days, tallying of leftover drugs, patients seen, documenting number or cataract, glaucoma patients, reading glasses, etc so as to get accountability of them. At the end of each visit, all leftover drug is handed over to the MOH Administration to be dispensed to ophthalmology patients.
Upon the return of the glasses, Lions volunteer their time and energy sorting hundreds of glasses according to: schools, churches, state care facilities for the indigent, and various communities. Then they would bore the cost of distributing them to all nook and cranny of the island, free of cost eliminating the high cost of each visit, hence we live by our motto “We Serve”
Sincerely O’Neil Daley
Sight Chairman Mobay Lions 2017/18
Notes by Lion Dr. Gerry Leinweber re Lions Partnership, Past, Present & Future
Of course I am biased being a Lion for 36 years. But as the key organizer for CVC’s Jamaica project for years, O’Neil is making his comments from the club perspective and I will add the larger view.
First, the Lions are local, and their dedication over the years is key to our program due to this reputation. This is key to sustainable development. Second key Lions have solved customs problems for us year after year. This year, even though the MOH was supposed to clear the sea can, without Lion Viviene Frankson and Lion Sonia Smith, (and some others) we might not have gotten the sea can out of customs. This local deep knowledge is essential and really invaluable. Third, the overview of Lions and their organization strengths such as insurance for all projects means our CVC/Lions projects are covered by a blanket policy.
Finally, the model we are going to execute has really been pioneered by the Lions of Linstead and Maypen. To use them, take their ideas, and then drop them from the process seems wrong to me on every level. True the Lions like all service clubs are having challenges with the younger members but this is cyclical as are most trends.