50th Anniversary Celebration

Ambassadors Wine Tasting

IEF will celebrate its Golden Anniversary on Sunday, September 18, 2011 at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Hopping in Bethesda, Maryland. As this will also be the occasion of our "Ambassadors' Wine Tasting", ambassadors from countries where IEF works will join us. Join us for wines provided by David and Helen Choi of Pearsons Wine and Spirits of Georgetown, wonderful hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction.

Reservations are $100 per person. If you would like to be a sponsor of this event or to make your reservation, contact Calvin Baerveldt at

+1 240-290-0263 ext 118 or cbaerveldt@iefusa.org, or online at

http://www.iefusa.org/eventstickets.shtml.

Partner Updates

Raheem Rahmathullah with Alcon/India director Jawed Zia

ALCON Awards Grant to Create Sustainability and Improve Cataract Surgery

Alcon Labs in Fort Worth, Texas is dedicated to improving the quality of eye surgery around the world by supporting the training of ophthalmic surgeons to upgrade their skills and knowledge. IEF's comprehensive sustainability approach includes improving and increasing cataract surgery to help reduce the leading cause of blindness while increasing revenue to support sustainability and allow profit to subsidize the poor. IEF's Training & Development Manager, Raheem Rahmathullah states "this Alcon IEF collaboration is a powerful way to build the capacity of struggling eye surgery units letting thousands more receive sight-restoring cataract surgery every year!"

LaVelle Fund for the Blind Supports Expansion of IEF Partner Services

A generous grant from the Lavelle Fund for the Blind enables IEF to build and equip a training center at Visualiza, one of IEF's original sustainability partners and now an IEF Regional Demonstration Center in Guatemala, to better provide training to its own staff and partner eye clinic teams from around the region. Additionally, IEF will establish a new social enterprise eye clinic in Managua, Nicaragua in collaboration with Vision for the Poor that will serve one million people. Lastly, it will ensure that IEF's existing hospital partners in Egypt achieve their sustainability objectives. Lavelle's continued support of IEF's sustainability programming is a testament to the effectiveness of our development approach.

Success at Shebin el Koum in Egypt

In 2005, IEF expanded its support to the Al Noor Foundation/Magrabi Eye Hospital (Al Noor/Magrabi) in Cairo, another original sustainability partner and an IEF Regional Demonstration Center, to provide clinical and management training for eye clinic teams from other hospitals in Egypt. Thanks to the Lavelle Fund, IEF and Al Noor/Magrabi began providing technical assistance and mentoring to eye clinic teams as they developed their sustainability plans. 

Dr. Mohamed Hamed of Shebin El Koum Eye Hospital training at the Al Noor/Magrabi Eye Hospital Wet Lab

The Shebin El Koum Eye Hospital, a government hospital in Menoufiya north of Cairo, has shown great success. The goal was to expand eye care services, increase revenue, and create sustainability. Staff from Shebin El Koum received clinical and management training at Al Noor/Magrabi with ophthalmologists and nurses learning new surgical tecniques at the IEF established Wet Lab. Thanks to financial and political support from the regional government in Menoufiya, the Shebin El Koum Eye Hospital flourished. From 2006 to 2010, cataract surgeries with intro-ocular lenses nearly tripled from 515 to 1,241, while the number of outpatient examinations increased from 20,882 in 2006 to 31,785 in 2010. Revenue increased from $82,009.00 to $263,724.00 representing an increase in the cost recovery rate from 91.29% to 133.67%

IEF's Training & Development Manager, Raheem Rahmathullah states "The dramatic increases are not just numbers; they are people - families getting quality affordable eye care that was previously unavailable to them." Shebin El Koum continues to serve its community, saving sight for a lifetime and giving hope to thousands.

VIP Visits Visualiza in Guatemala

Ethiopia Receives Valuable Equipment Thanks to the Himalayan Cataract Project, Boeing and IEF

Working with the Boeing Humanitarian Delivery Flights program, the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) with assistance from IEF's SightReach Surgical® program shipped five tons of books and medical supplies on a Boeing Jet being delivered to Ethiopian Airlines in the capital Addis Ababa. Bill Shields, Director of SightReach Surgical and his team procured 160 pieces of sophisticated ophthalmic surgical equipment destined for the Quiha Zonal Hospital in Mekelle, northern Ethiopia. Job Heintz, HCP CEO commented "...Thanks also to our partner Bill Shields and SightReach Surgical for their tireless efforts on the procurement."

A2Z Child Blindness and Health Grants Fund Ends with Global Workshops

Since 2005, the USAID-funded A2Z Child Blindness Program has awarded 41 grants to 24 organizations to support eye health interventions in 29 countries across Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. IEF is collaborating with A2Z on designing and facilitating three regional workshops at the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology in Tanzania for hospitals in Africa, the Lions Aravind Institute for Community Ophthalmology in India for hospitals in Asia, and the National Institute of Ophthalmology in Peru for hospitals in Latin America. A final "Partners Meeting" will be held in July 2011 in Washington, DC to highlight lessons learned, discuss research data, and hear about innovations in the eye care sector. John Barrows, IEF's Director of Programs notes "the A2Z program has strengthened a great many eye care services to help children who would otherwise risk a life of blindness and we are proud to have been associated with A2Z over the past six years."

New Board Members and Officers Elected

New trustees were elected at the annual Board of Directors meeting on June 23 including Ralph J. Helmsen, PhD, retired researcher at the National Eye Institute; Her Excellency Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar, Ambassador of the Republic of Tanzania; Frances Pierce, Chairman, President & CEO of Data Systems Analysts, Inc.; and A. Raymond Pilkerton, MD, retired Ophthalmologist and founder of the Retina Group of Washington.  Elected for a second three year term was Paul T. Gavaris, MD. The FY 2012 officers are Frank S. Ashburn, Jr., MD-Chair pictured at right, Frances P. Legon, Vice Chair; Roger Jantio, Treasurer; Kathryn D. Leckey, JD, Secretary; and Mary Catherine Fischer, MD, Senior Medical Director.

During the meeting, Kathryn Leckey was belatedly awarded her 2010

"Promotion of Peace & Vision Award" for her decades of service to IEF on the Board and in support of our mission.

Ms. Leckey is pictured at left with Dr. Frank Ashburn.

Keeping the Vision

2011 John Harry King Memorial Lecture-Walter Reed

Dr. Flynn, left, receives a certificate from Dr. Paul Gavaris, Victoria M. Sheffield, and Dr. Howard Cupples of IEF

Prof. Harry W. Flynn, Jr., MD of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami presented the John Harry King Memorial Lecture May 27 at the annual Walter Reed Army Medical Center ophthalmology conference. Dr. King was Walter Reed's first ophthalmology resident in 1948 and the Memorial Lecture was established 25 years ago in 1986, the year of Dr. King's death. Serving in both the Pacific and European theaters during World War II, Dr. King ended his Army career as Chief of Ophthalmology at Walter Reed in 1955. He was the personal ophthalmologist to Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.

Dr. Flynn, a distinguished retina surgeon, spoke specifically on endophthalmitiis, a devastating inflammatory infection that can follow severe injury to the eye; a risk in severely injured military fighters. The lecture served as a powerful way of honoring Dr. King, his contribution to military ophthalmology, eye banking, and international ophthalmology through the International Eye Foundation.

Photo at left L-R: Thomas H. Price, III, the late Suzanne King Clark, Susan Eisenhower, Victoria M. Sheffield, Prof. R. Sagdeev (Mrs. Eisenhower's husband). Susan Eisenhower is presenting Ms. Sheffield with spectacles worn by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower-photo 1997.

Sipping Wine to Save Sight

Howard Pyle, Victoria Sheffield, Cathy Nowack, Calvin Baerveldt, Kathryn Leckey, William Madden and Kathleen Madden

On a lovely Sunday afternoon in early June,35 IEF supporters gathered on the deck of the Cultured PearlJapanese Restaurant and SushiBar in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for a wine tasting and silent auction to benefit IEF's sight saving programs.

The carefully selected wines were provided by Vintage Imports through Bin 66 Wine and Spirits. Special thanks to Rob Wood, Donna Welsh, and Nick of the Cultured Pearl, Paul Zientek of Vintage Imports, and Tom Poor of Bin 66 Wine and Spirits.  Thanks to media Sponsor CAMP Rehoboth and Brent Mundt who wrote articles on the event in the Rehoboth papers. We hope this sun, wine and sea event will become an annual affair.

L-R: Brent Mundt, Victoria Sheffield, Rick Legon

Summer time is for playing and working outdoors - in the sun.  Here are some simple tips to ensure your eyes, and eyesight, stay protected.

• Wear sun glasses with UV (ultraviolet) protection.
• Wear eye protection when doing serious work - flying grass or sticks can be dangerous.
• Protect your eyes when playing sports.
• Avoid or protect against chemicals - chemicals in your local pool may irritate, poison ivy can get into your eyes, and be careful when applying any medicines or insect repellant around the face. 

 (Source: WebMD.com)

Eyes are your most precious sense...

Care for them properly...

Have regular eye exams!