Children's eye development is something most of us rarely think about when we talk about raising kids, but it's enough of an issue in the Dominican Republic to prompt volunteers to travel thousands of miles to help out. Three local optometrists from the Yukon Kuskokwim Eye Center flew to the Dominican Republic to give much needed eye exams to school children living in poverty.
Cien Fuegos means "One Hundred Fires", and refers to the many trash fires that burn in a landfill near the small village in the Dominican Republic.
“Not only are they exposed to dangerous fumes, toxic fumes and starvation, but also the dump trucks would end up crushing some of these kids because they don’t see them. The kids would sleep there. I heard stories about an arm that got stuck in a dump truck," said Brian Blum. Blum is an optometrist who lives in Bethel, and one of three eye doctors that heard about the conditions the people were living in and decided to help.
“They live there, they eat there, they scavenge for food there," Blum said of the landfill.
Blum describes the system of poverty that traps the children born there and forces them to stay:
“In order to eat they need money. So they go to the landfill and pick up recyclables, such as plastic bottles," Blum said.
The recyclables are traded in for cash, but that’s often not enough to survive. The children borrow money to buy food, and then continue to work the landfill in an effort to pay it back.
“They can’t just relocate because they're stuck. They owe money and so they're forced to live there, continuing to try to make money living there," Blum said.
It might seem like eye exams are the last thing these children need, but Blum would disagree. The reason is school, and an opportunity for the children to escape the cycle.
“What we wanted to focus on was providing glasses for those who need them, because it’s very critical to see clearly when going through school," Blum said.
Another group of volunteers recently provided a school, which the kids can't take full advantage of if they're having trouble with their vision.
Back in Western Alaska, Blum says that the availability of eye care can also be a problem.
“One of the biggest struggles that we have is travel," Blum said.
Even though health care can be free for Alaska Natives living in villages, often getting to the health care is not.
Children who haven’t gotten exams and have undiagnosed eye issues are likely to fall behind in the classroom. Blum says telemedicine is one solution, but as in the Dominican Republic, access to that can be a challenge too.
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