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Seeing is believing Local eye doctor transforms lives with free eye care clinics Comment By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 12, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 12, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News MEDFORD — The day that a half-blind farmer in Vietnam saw his life transformed by a free pair of glasses, Medford optometrist Kurt Wilkening realized his AmigoVision charity eye clinics had done far more than combine his love of eye care and travel. The now semi-retired founder of Eye Care Associates of Southern Oregon is embarking on his 15th year of helping provide free eye care around the world in partnership with Rotary Club members. A volunteer mission with another medical organization in 1980 planted the seed for what Wilkening, 58, views as his life's work. Wilkening's first clinic began in 1999 when he and his wife, Toree, traveled to Colima, Mexico, to see if a vision clinic was feasible in conjunction with an education program dubbed Project Amigo. The following year, the couple and a dozen fellow Bear Creek Rotary Club members returned to Mexico to provide some 750 pairs of free glasses. Eventually teams led by Wilkening would travel to small villages in areas of Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, Peru, Dominican Republic and East Africa, places where the annual income can be far less than the cost of an eye exam and prescription glasses. "To work in a developing country is an amazing experience. The need you find is so basic. We're all used to cutting-edge technology in medicine and used to clean water and security that is unimaginable in these countries we have served," Wilkening said. "We have served people whose lives have been changed by a simple pair of reading glasses that now allow them to continue to provide for their families. They can't see to read or sew or do the things they need to do, and they just quit. ... Something as simple as a pair of reading glasses can plug them back in and make their lives productive again." To date, AmigoVision clinics have served some 24,000 patients and, thanks to help from Lions International glasses collection programs in the Pacific Northwest, provided 20,000 or more pairs of glasses. Nearly 500 volunteers have participated in the trips. AmigoVision board member Tim Mobley, this year's district governor for Rotary District 5110, said the volunteers often get as much as those being served by the clinics. "It's such an amazing program in that the number of people's lives we have impacted in the time we've been doing it — with something as simple as a pair of readers — is truly extraordinary," said Mobley. "And it's changed the lives of the volunteers who have gone to help. It's definitely changed my life. I don't want to say it's addictive, but you get such an incredible feeling from impacting someone's life in such a big way." The farmer from Vietnam, for example, had little to hope for after an unexploded mortar from four decades earlier took away his ability to provide for his family. "He had been blinded in one eye and had lost one of his arms. His life's goal had been to provide an education for his children. When he could no longer work on his farm, he had to pull his children out of school to work the farm," Mobley added. "In developing countries, schooling is the only way out of poverty. We were able to fit him with a pair of glasses that allowed him to go back to work as a mechanic and put his kids back in school. A free pair of glasses changed not only his life, but the life of his children, as well." Wilkening said his life's joy has been figuring out how to do what he loves. "The very best thing that I've been able to do in my life is to do what I know how to do — and to do it for free for people who truly need it," he said. "It is the very best thing I can think of. Is it extremely fun? Yes. Sometimes I feel selfish that I'm doing it, because it feels good. But then I see us helping little kids with crossed eyes and mothers who have never been able to see their children's faces clearly, and I'm just so grateful for the chance to keep doing this." AmigoVision's next local vision clinic will be held Jan. 17 at North Valley High School in Grants Pass. Details on AmigoVision and free vision clinics can be found online at amigovision.org . Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at [email protected]. By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Posted Jan. 12, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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