In a effort to expand access to low vision care in Belize, a team of Jamie Hill, OD, Class of  2009, and Ashlin Naquin, OD, Class of 2025, a UAB optometry student at the time, partnered with the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired (BCVI) for a weeklong mission focused on training and treatment.

Hill was inspired by a Student Volunteer Optometric Service to Humanity (SVOSH) mission trip to Nicaragua he took as a third-year optometry student. “That experience planted the seed for wanting to do more international optometric work,” he said.

The trip, which took place April 13–18, centered around BCVI’s headquarters in Belize City. BCVI is the country’s only comprehensive eye care provider, offering exams, surgery, medication, and support for individuals with irreversible blindness.

An ophthalmology team has worked with BCVI for years, providing cataract, glaucoma, and retinal surgeries several times annually. But this mission marked a new chapter: training BCVI’s optometrists in low vision rehabilitation with Hill and Naquin leading the efforts.

BCVI’s head optometrist received training in low vision care in 2007, but the other four full-time optometrists had never received formal instruction. After a year of planning, the team affiliated with UAB Optometry arrived in Belize to help fill that gap.

The training began Monday, April 14, with lectures, workshops, and hands-on demonstrations. On Tuesday, April 15, Hill and Naquin conducted low vision exams on eight children, with BCVI optometrists and low vision teachers observing. The following day, the Belizean optometrists took the lead, performing exams on eight more children under the guidance of the visiting team.

The trip to Belize was an incredible experience. I had the opportunity to work closely with the providers and volunteers at BCVI. 

“One of the most impactful parts of my experience was learning about the vast differences in the medical training,” Naquin said. “The trip deepened my understanding of global health disparities and the barriers that many people face.” 

 In total, 16 children were evaluated. Diagnoses included Retinopathy of Prematurity, congenital nystagmus, severe congenital glaucoma, retinal dystrophies such as Retinitis Pigmentosa and Stargardt’s disease, and congenital cataracts.

“Although we would have liked to see more patients, travel in Belize is difficult and costly for families outside Belize City,” Hill said. “That’s why training the local optometrists was so important—they can now bring these skills back to their clinics across the country’s five districts.”

The mission concluded with a day of rest on the island of Caye Caulker before the team returned home on Friday, April 18.

Support from UAB played a critical role in the mission’s success. Sandra Wang-Harris, OD, MPH, FAAO, associate professor, donated thousands of dollars’ worth of low vision aids from the school’s low vision clinic, and Dawn DeCarlo, OD, PhD, MS, MSPH, of SightSavers America, contributed additional devices. These tools were distributed across BCVI’s clinics and will benefit dozens of children with visual impairments throughout Belize.