Below is an email article on the dynamic work that Dr. Vaughn, his family and staff are doing to bring clear vision to visually impared folks in Nigeria during their annual mission work.
Local Ophthalmologist Brings Vital Medical Care to the World’s Poorest
By CHICO C. NORWOOD
HEALING HANDS—Dr. Leroy Vaughn, one of the foremost ophthalmologists in the country, is shown in the Anambra State of southeas t Nigeria performing surgery on one of thousands of patients he sees during his yearly two-week junket to that nation. This is the third year that Vaughn will be making the trip.
Dr. Leroy Vaughn is one of the top ophthalmologists in the country. He has been listed in Strathmore’s Who’s, Who, voted America’s Top Ophthalmologist by the Consumer’s Research Council of America and has received numerous commendations, including one from former President Bill Clinton.
For the past three years Vaughn has closed his lucrative Inglewood, Calif., practice for two weeks in the month of August to travel to Africa to provide badly needed eye medical care to some of the world’s poorest people.
The trip, sponsored by Anambra State Association (ASA)/USA Medical Missions, takes him to some of the remotest parts of the Anambra State in southeast Nigeria where running water and electricity are non-existent. In far from pristine and sterile conditions, Vaughn, one of America’s best, performs eye surgeries, examinations and dispenses drugs to hundreds of eagerly waiting patients who travel from hundreds of miles away for the opportunity to see a doctor.
The first year that Vaughn made the trip, he recalled the lines were so long he could not treat them all.0A“The need is overwhelming. Patients would be lined up for hours and hours. It’s really sad,” he said. “I told them I only wanted to see people for surgery who were totally blind in both eyes. I told them the (sponsors) I can’t be in surgery all day because I want to see patients who have other diseases like glaucoma, infections. So, I would try to see patients in the morning and do surgeries in the afternoon. That became difficult because there was no light in the operating room and so when it gets dark it gets dark in the operating room because they don’t have electricity.”
Also, when it gets dark it becomes dangerous. With the average income around $1 a day, crime is a way of life for many, so not only does he work under some of the worst conditions, but he also does it under the watchful eyes of machine gun-toting security guards.Performing surgery is like “operating in my garage” Vaughn said. Sponsors have managed to purchase a microscope and a generator. There is no anesthesia available, although Vaughn does have medications to numb the eye. The only medications available during the junkets are the ones he has managed to solicit from pharmaceutical companies. Last year, he was successful in getting more than $200,000 worth of eye drops and other medications donated by such companies as Alcon Laboratories, Allergan and Insta Pharmaceuticals. This year he has surpassed that amount.
“Anyone who sells me anything, I ask them to donate. If you want me to use your medicines you need to donate,” Vaughn said.
In past years, Vaughn’s daughter and wife accompanied him on the trip.
“Its funny, the place where I go to purchase my mosquito repellent, the guy would laugh and he said ‘how come nobody ever wants to go back with you twice?’ I said ‘well it’s not Club Med’,” he said. “There’s no running water, the bathrooms don’t flush and there are ants in the bed. It’s not a plush five-star hotel and the place we go to is all mud and it rains all day. So it’s difficult to get people like my wife and my daughter to go back.”
This year, four members—Rosie Valdes, Anna Chicas, Nubia Acosta and Maria Valdovinos—of Vaughn’s five-member staff are making the journey. Dubbed “Team Africa,” Vaughn and his crew are set to travel to the areas of Adai-Nnukwu, Abagana, Ogidi (Idemili), Onitsha, Umuleri/Aguleri, Ihiala, Umune (Orumba), Atani/Ogbaru, and Nnewi (all in Nigeria) over a two-week period from Aug. 8 to Aug. 23.“
This time I have my whole staff going so we can probably see more patients. They see the pictures and they see the need and they all wanted to help,” he said.
Optician assistant Anna Chicas from El Salvador says she is “nervous and excited” but she’s looking forward to the 7,000-plus-mile trip.“I=2 0kind of know what it’s like to live in a poor city,” she said. “I know that it’s going to be different from what I’m used to seeing. I’m looking forward to seeing some things different that will probably change the way I see life.”
“I was raised almost in a place like where we’re going,” said ophthalmic technician Nubia Acosta, who is originally from Nicaragua. “So I am pretty much familiar with what we’re going to go through.
“We know (what to do) so he can help more people over there. With help, he has more time and can see more people,” she continued. “Instead of doing 10 surgeries he can do 12 to 15 with us.
We can work with the patients find out what they have … find out if they need to have cataract surgery. I’m excited, a little bit nervous, but with Dr. Vaughn I know we’ll be OK. He takes care of us. I know we’re going to do a good job.”
The cost for each staff member to make the trip is approximately $3,000 to $4,000, which covers plane fare and vaccinations. According to Vaughn, vaccinations alone cost close to $1,000. Room and board are covered by the host country. At his own expense, Vaughn has outfitted each staff member with scrubs and equipment to cover the two weeks. Led by ophthalmic technician Valdovinos, the Vaughn staffers have raised most of the money needed through donations from patients.
We had one patient give us $1,000,” said Valdovinos, a native of Mexico. “The patients have been really good about donating.”
While Vaughn’s patients have readily contributed to the cause, doctors, to whom Vaughn regularly refers patients, have been lacking. According to Valdovinos, one doctor who has been on the receiving end of referrals and supplies from Vaughn’s office, donated $3.Vaughn’s office, the Eye Care for Diabetics Medical Group, located at 323 N. Prairie Ave., Ste. 217, in Inglewood, will be closed for the entire two-week period.
Donations are still being accepted. Checks should be made payable to Dr. Leroy Vaughn, with the word “donation” written in the memo section. For more information, call (310) 671-0909.
Black People And Their Place In World History, available at Amazon.com