Meet the Team: Kashif Malik
I am currently majoring in biological sciences at Arizona State University. This is my first time accompanying the Humanity First Gift of Sight team to Guatemala, and as a volunteer, I hope to assist with patient care and lend a helping hand where ever I can. I joined the Gift of Sight team in order to volunteer my time for a great cause and to witness the immediate impact physicians can have on a community lacking proper healthcare.
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Support the Gift of Sight team and make a contribution today — any amount can make a difference.
Mon, 1st Oct — 0 notes
Meet the Team: Naila Ahmad Khan
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and then completed my master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California Riverside. I currently work full-time as a research specialist in the Plant Pathology and Microbiology department studying fungal and bacterial infections on host fruit and nut plant species. My future goal is to pursue a career in the healthcare profession. I have been involved in numerous humanitarian projects including providing free health care to the underserved in Mexico and also to the homeless in the local community. I am excited to go on this trip as a volunteer to Guatemala to provide the gift of sight. I hope to be able to shadow surgeons in the operating room and participate to gain hands-on experience. Apart from the clinical aspect, opportunities like this make one humble and thankful‒I cannot wait to embark on this journey.
Mon, 1st Oct — 0 notes
Meet the Team: Dr. Ahsan Khan
Dr. Ahsan Khan is an ophthalmologist and the Gift of Sight program director. He has always had a strong interest in foreign medical mission work. He ran a successful cataract surgery camp in Rabwah, Pakistan in 2004, and organized the inaugural Gift of Sight surgical mission in Guatemala in September of 2010, and a second trip in the fall of 2011. “Last year we were able to expand our efforts by including an optometry clinic and dispensing free glasses donated by Lions Club of America,” said Dr. Khan. “This year we are excited to bring on some reputable surgeons from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola University of Chicago to assist in the cataract surgery camp. In addition to increasing the number of cataract surgeries compared to last year, we will expand our efforts by performing pterygium and glaucoma surgery as well.” This year’s Gift of Sight eye camp will also include an educational component, with lectures and presentations to be provided by the Humanity First USA doctors to the local Guatemalan ophthalmologists.
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Support the Gift of Sight team and
make a contribution today — any amount can make a difference.
Humanity First USA’s 3rd Annual Gift of Sight Eye Clinic
Humanity First USA’s Gift of Sight team will return to Proyecto Salud y Paz in Chichicastenango, Guatemala for another week-long eye camp to provide free eye care to rural Guatemalans. In collaboration with Humanity First Guatemala and IPC (Panamerican Institute against Blindness), the Gift of Sight team will perform eye surgeries and provide pre- and post-operational care and medicines to patients.
This year’s Gift of Sight mission is the third annual trip that has been organized and carried out under the guidance of Gift of Sight Program Director and ophthalmologist Dr. Ahsan Khan. Lead ophthalmologists for the 2012 camp are Dr. Charles Bouchard and Dr. Ali Djalilian. Dr. Bouchard is the Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, and Dr. Djalilian is the Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. They are joined by ophthalmology resident, Dr. Hajra Saeed, anesthesiologist Dr. Saqib Ali, Dr. Amir Mehralian, surgical technical Juan Nunez, as well as several student volunteers. The US team will be working alongside Guatemalan surgeons, residents, nurses and surgical technicians from IPC during the Gift of Sight eye camp.
Thirty-five surgeries have already been completed during the preliminary clinic held by Humanity First Guatemala and IPC, and the Gift of Sight team anticipates another year of success, as we restore vision to those in need. We cannot do this without your support: please consider making a contribution — with a $100 donation, you can cover costs for one cataract surgery and help give the gift of sight.
Mon, 3rd Sep — 0 notes
Scenes from the inaugural Night for Sight event on May 12, 2012 in Aurora, Illinois.
The 2011 Gift of Sight eye camp introduced the optometry clinic set up and directed by optometrist Dr. Amna Malik. Over 125 patients received free full eye exams and prescription eye glasses donated by Lions Club International.
There were several patients in the optometry clinic who had prescriptions that were difficult to match. With the support of ReSpectacle, the Gift of Sight volunteers were able to find glasses for these individual. ReSpectacle is a non-profit organization that facilitates the redistribution of quality used eyeglasses to underserved individuals around the world. The donated glasses they receive are cleaned, categorized and loaded into an online database. Ophthalmologist and 2010 Gift of Sight team member Dr. Tayyeba Ali is the organization’s Chief International Officer and one of the co-founders; using the information recorded by the Gift of Sight volunteers, she was able to match several of the prescriptions and mail these eyeglasses to Guatemala. The Humanity First Guatemala team then delivered the eyeglasses to Proyecto Salud y Paz, and patients were contacted with the assistance of their staff.
The patients were all content with the eyeglasses that they had received. The Gift of Sight team is grateful for the partnership with ReSpectacle to help fight blindness, and looks forward to restoring vision of even more patients during the upcoming 2012 Guatemala eye camp.
