Since 1984, Hawaiian Eye Foundation’s volunteer ophthalmologists have conducted regular, sight-saving surgery and training expeditions to developing Pacific Basin countries.
Expeditions usually last up to two weeks, and provide: eye screenings for 300 to 500 patients; major and minor eye surgeries for 50 to 150 patients; training for local eye care practitioners; and eye drops, reading glasses, sunglasses, and other supplies.
We sponsor, or support in partnership with other organizations, humanitarian eye care expeditions to the South and Central Pacific, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere in the Pacific Basin.
See how HEF changes lives:
The Gift of Sight: 10th Annual Taveuni Eye Project from Hawaiian Eye Foundation on Vimeo.
Locations we serve:
Tonga
Our volunteers have provided eye care and training in Tonga since 1984. Tonga was our first expedition destination. HEF established a clinic and hospital and trained local doctors as ophthalmologists. We are proud to say that the center is now self-sustainable and HEF is no longer needed. That, indeed, is the goal everywhere we serve: to provide the resources and to train locals who, over time, will be able to care for their people without us.
Fiji
For the past 18 years, Fiji is visited regularly. We have helped to build a clinic there in the village of Taveuni and conduct the largest eye mission in the Pacific every October. The Taveuni Eye Project just celebrated its 10th anniversary with 350 free cataract surgeries for patients from 20 different Fijian islands. We also have a full-time sustainable clinic in Ba Town that services patients year-round. This clinic provides much needed services to the people of Viti Levu and hosts 3-5 of our mission teams per year.
Samoa
Samoa (formerly Western Samoa) is visited regularly, and eye surgery has been provided on the islands of Upolu and Savaii to islanders who have no access to eye care.
Republic of Kiribati
Republic of Kiribati is visited regularly, and eye surgery has been provided on Christmas Island to islanders who have no access to eye care.
Republic of Palau
Republic of Palau was visited for the first time in March 2011 at the invitation of the Ministry of Health. Since then we have created a permanent Eye Care Center, the first and only eye specific clinic in Micronesia. Without our presence, there is no other form of eye care available to the kind people of Palau. It is a pleasure to be the sole providers of eye surgery in all of the country. We are very grateful for the continued partnership with the Palauan Ministry of Health for the benefit of the Palauan people.
Outside of the Pacific Basin:
Bolivia
Dominican Republic
Bahamas
