VOSH/Southeast (V/SE)  supported a trip by the CFP Cuban Network to Santa Clara, Cuba February 18 through 25 of this year.  Santa Clara is the fifth largest Cuban city, population about 350,000 and close to the geographic center of the island.  One of the main purposes of the trip was for each of the thirty team members to carry in a suitcase full of OTC medical goods,  The OTC medicines, such as Advil, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin and other common drug store medicines, were used to restock Cuban church medical cabinets since OTC medical goods are in super short supply in Cuba.  

Two CFP Team members active in a church in Winter Park, Florida, who are also active VOSH/SE members, were aware of anecdotal reports concerning the almost toal unavailability of single vision readers for retired and pensioned Cubans.  These two V/SE members thought this trip would be a good occasion to “test the waters” and determine whether it was really difficult to obtain single vision readers in Cuba today.  The V/SE members convinced the team to take 600 pairs of recycled readers for distribution at church clinics.  These readers were processed by dedicated volunteers at the V/SE facility in Ocala, Florida, which is widely known in VoshWorld as “The Tin Hut”.

We are happy to report that this effort could not have been more  successful.  The 600 pairs were all skillfully dispensed by Cuban volunteers who staffed six church-run clinics throughout Central Cuba.  Currently, most Cuban government medical clinics are able to do refractions and write prescriptions but various economic and social problems have produced complex situations which largely prevent the government distribution of glasses and there does not seem to be availability of affordable reading glasses in the marketplace, especially at prices affordable to people who are unemployed or on pensions.  There appears to be a great present need for efforts similar to the recent V/SE supported mission and we intend to do our best to see such efforts are made to make sure that deserving people in Cuba have access to reading glasses.  Look for news of similar missions to Cuba soon.

P.S. If you were expecting pictures, please talk to the guy who was so excited when our plane landed at Miami International that he left his cell phone on his plane seat when he got off.  

Thanks for reading this.  Stay tuned for more Cuban news. 

John Gehrig, Vice President for Development,, V/SE

We invite you to consider a donation to VOSH Southeast for the 2025 Guyana, South America clinic. 

From July 17–27, VOSH will carry out its first contact eye care mission to the remote islands of Guyana, South America. A team of dedicated professionals—including an on-site ophthalmologist, optometrists, opticians, and clinic support—will bring essential services to isolated communities where care is unavailable.

This mission will launch what we hope becomes a long-term partnership for sustainable vision care.

With the help of local host Dr. Kemol Roshan and government-issued vouchers for glasses, we’re ready to serve—but we are still short on the funds needed to make this life-changing mission possible. Your donation will help bring sight and hope to hundreds who have never had access to proper eye care. Let’s plant the seeds of vision and partnership together.

Please donate at the VOSH Southeast Website

https://voshsoutheast.org/

Thank you!

We have 2 Missioners that are in need of a  handheld slitlamp?

Please Let us know if you can help in any way!

VOSH Southeast

info@voshsoutheast.org

Hello VOSH Southeast….  

My name is Kirk Thomas, here is a picture of just one corner of my house with items I brought back from VOSH/Minnesota missions. I’m out of wall space in my whole house.  I started with VOSH in 1986, my brother was an Optometrist and asked if I was interested in going on a VOSH mission to the Amazon River in Columbia to serve the Mysya Indians on Monkey Island.  I told my brother I didn’t know anything about Optometry! and as a true brother, he said to me; “We need a dummy to carry things”. To make a long story short, from that moment and into the next 36 years, I worked and lead missions into 29 countries. Became Vice President of VOSH/Minnesota and also Vice President of VOSH/International. And yes, I  still was not in the Optometric industry.  All things in life come to an end, my Optometrist brother passed away nine years ago….. I retired from VOSH three years ago. Right now I’m 80+ years old and on a number of heart medications as with a lot of old folks.  I didn’t feel it was very safe working in a third world foreign country with a heart issue, so I retired from my wonderful life’s ventures I loved to the next generation so they can enjoy their mind blowing experiences. 

The very best to all.

Kirk Thomas