Annual Meeting in May, Derek Feifke, OD, of Lexington, MA, was named president for the next two years. Already he’s traveled to Florida and to NY to represent us, he’s spearheading the development of our Chapter website and he’s playing an active role in VOSH-INTERNATIONAL’s collaboration with IMEC (International Medical Equipment Collaborative), to get equipment and supplies to developing countries.

Dr. Feifke is no newcomer to our organization. He has been a dedicated VOSH team member for the past several years, providing his time and talent annually wherever one of our teams has asked him to help out. Lots of things can and do go awry on these VOSH trips, but Dr. Feifke never complains and he always adds an air of quiet calm. Here’s a real life example: It’s pouring rain and he’s wearing a Tee shirt and chinos, perched on the back of an open truck that is heaving and thrashing over a rocky road. No complaints. Instead, Dr. Feifke removes his shirt and has someone in the cab hold onto it until the team reaches its clinic site. He shakes himself off, puts on his shirt and he’s ready to see patients who are already lined up as far as the eye can see.

As he’s become a more seasoned VOSHer, Dr. Feifke has taken it upon himself to bring along an added “goody” bag, a small library of some of the more difficult prescriptions. No one ever asked. He just understood that there could never be enough of certain prescriptions, and so he culled and neutralized them himself from the thousands of pairs of glasses donated by patients in his Burlington office.

Along with his time and talent, Derek has served VOSH-ONE well by providing the third important skill of any board member: money. For the past six years he has qualified and raced in the Boston Marathon on behalf of VOSH-ONE, singlehandedly raising more than $17,000 to support our projects.

Dr. Feifke attempted to broaden the project this year by applying for one of the Marathon’s highly prized, non-profit organization slots which would enable a team of VOSH volunteer to participate in the Marathon. Though unsuccessful this year, he remains committed to trying again.

Dr. Feifke hails from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he earned a diploma in optometry from the faculty of Health and Biotechnology at the Technikon Witwatersrand. After completing his studies, he worked in private practice and lectured part-time at the University of the North.

Even in those days he was an activist, assisting a team of professionals who brought eye and medical care to the indigent and rural. In 1988, Dr. Feifke came to the United States to return to school at the New England College of Optometry, earning a Doctor of Optometry degree in 1990. Upon completing his studies, Dr. Feifke started In-Sight Optical, a private practice in Burlington, MA which he continues to direct. You can see his website at click clicking the following link -  In-sightoptical.com.

VOSH-ONE (NECO) returns to Armenia
 - by Linda Bennett, OD, VOSH-NECO trip leader

In late September, 2007, seven optometrists, a fourth year optometry student, a nurse and thirteen volunteers traveled to Armenia for a second VOSH trip. Five clinics were held outside the capital city of Yerevan and a total of 935 patients were seen. Yerevan has experienced considerable changes in just the past two and a half years. The United States government has built a new embassy there, its second largest in the world.

Construction projects are going on all over the city. There is a positive feeling among the people that things are improving. Yerevan has more of an international appearance with western stores carrying BOSS, Gucci and other name brand products. However, not much has changed in the countryside where our clinics were held. Pensioners are especially hard hit by the economic changes that are occurring. Our first clinic was held in the town of Tutu Choor (translated as sour water), in the Tchambarak region of Lake Sevan. The mayor of Tutu Choor told us that we were the first doctors to ever come to the village.

Yeghnadzor is the only village where we had held a clinic in 2005. This time our group stayed overnight in Jermuk so that we were only an hour’s ride from the village, giving us a full day to see patients and enjoy the hospitality of the villagers. We were treated to a lesson in lavash baking and home grown farm food, a really special treat.

We were fortunate to have a volunteer optician from California join us at the final two clinics. Lussian Kamberian is volunteering her time to work with the Armenia Eye Care Project, an organiza¬tion that has made a full time commitment to eradicating blindness in Armenia. Our group took time to make a connection with this organization and it will follow up on our referrals.

The trip was sponsored by AMARAS, a US Armenian organization based in Watertown, MA and dedicated to promoting appreciation of the Armenian arts and culture in Armenia and the USA. Reverend Joanne Hartunian again served as our program manager and was assisted by Peggy Hovanessian. The VOSH team was invited as guest optometrists to the Republic of Armenia; clinic sites were decided in cooperation and consultation with Armenia’s Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Armenian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Of the 935 patients who were seen, 46 required referrals, mostly for mature cataracts. Spectacles were given to 894 patients with many requiring two pairs. Well over half needed hyperopic prescription and over 200 myopic prescrip¬tions were dispensed. We filled 121 prescriptions in Armenia using all the funds in the Armenia Eyeglass fund. Only four pairs of glasses had to be made in US upon our return.
A third VOSH trip to Armenia is planned for the fall of 2009. If interested, contact Linda Bennett, OD, at lbennettod@earthlink.net Contributions to VOSH-NECO’s Armenia Eyeglass Fund can be sent to PO Box 41, Holden MA 01520-0041. Checks should be made payable to VOSH-NECO (ONE) and earmarked for the Armenian Eyeglass Fund.

VOSH-NECO is in the process of changing its name. Once the filed paperwork is approved, our 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization will be known as VOSH-ONE (VOSH of New England). Like it? VOSHer Ed Warren, OD of New Hampshire, came up with the catchy moniker at our annual meeting in May. Nothing else will be different about our 6-state Chapter, just our title. We’re making the change in order to avoid confusion with the New England College of Optometry which now uses the acronym, NECO.

When our organization was founded in the mid-1990s, we selected the name VOSH-NECO, because we were then allied with the New England Council of Optometrists (NECO), a New England regional optometric organization that even provided us some financial support. That organization disbanded several years ago. With the title no longer in conflict, the New England College of Optometry opted to shorten its acronym from NEWENCO to NECO. We are indebted to the faculty and students of the college for its many contributions to our programs, but we are both separate organizations. With this action, there won’t be any confusion. Hence, once the paperwork is cleared, we shall be known as VOSH-ONE.

Neutralizing used glasses is a big job and a time consuming one. Several years ago, through efforts initiated by our VOSH-NECO Chapter, the Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI) in Norfolk, MA started an Eyeglass Recycling Program. The program presents a vocational opportunity for inmates residing there while providing us the invaluable volunteer labor needed to get the task done.

Two inmates have been volunteering in the program pretty much since it got underway. On average, they work 2-3 hours each day neutralizing the used glasses with automatic lensometers, then cleaning and sorting them into appropriate categories.

Last fall, NECO students Andrea Murphy, Aaron Law, and Amanda Jimenez were asked to work with the two men to assist them in setting up an organizational system to better meet the needs of mission groups utilizing the recycled glasses. We continue to serve as liaison between MCI and VOSH-ONE (NECO).

Presently, due to lack of space, donated used glasses are being directly routed to MCI rather than to the college as was previously done. We continue to handle all pick ups of recycled glasses from MCI and deliveries to team leaders requesting them.