The purpose of International Vision Volunteers Canada is to provide eye care directly to the poorest people in Africa.

International Vision Volunteers Canada (IVVC) is a Canadian registered charity that sends ophthalmologists and other eye specialists to the poorest countries in Africa. Our doctors perform surgeries to restore sight to blind people and treat sighted people to protect their sight.

Since 2006 IVVC has sent over twenty missions to Zambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and one to Mexico. Ten ophthalmologists have offered their time and skills to help restore sight to the poorest people of the world.

Three other doctors, two nurses, and ten non-medics have volunteered to assist our specialists in their missions of mercy.

Our volunteers

All IVVC doctors and other volunteers pay all their own expenses for travel to Africa and accommodation in the villages. Most medication is donated to IVVC by generous pharmacy manufacturers. Other necessary equipment and supplies are purchased by IVVC. All supplies are hand-carried by IVVC teams to Africa, and delivered directly to the clinics in which we work. No patient is ever ask to pay IVVC for treatment. If necessary IVVC pays the host hospital for surgeries on poor patients.

Our patients

Since 2006 over TWO THOUSAND blind people have had their sight restored by the doctors working with IVVC. Over 6,000 poor people have been examined and treated for eye problems. Most surgeries are cataract removals. The African sun and malnutrition cause a very high incidence of cataracts. Dust, smoke and rough living conditions cause many eye injuries. What would be a minor problem in the west becomes serious in Africa if it is not treated for six months. River blindness and trachoma are unknown in the west, but epidemic in some areas of Africa. Our doctors must learn to cope with whatever comes up.

Our plans

It will take decades before the poorer countries of Africa attain the level of medical care available in the western world. The present IVVC volunteers will not see this day. Our objectives are to restore sight to as many blind people as possible, and to prevent blindness and other eye defects in others. Simultaneous with this work we are building a medical infrastructure for future doctors to continue this work.

Our needs

The demand for our services is limitless. At this moment there are 200,000,000 blind or visually impaired Africans who need the services that we can provide. We need more doctors to volunteer more time to come with us. We need nurses, optometrists and other medical practitioners to help us train the eager African staff. We need volunteers skilled in any trade to build things for the hospitals, or to fix things needing repair. We need medical companies to give the Africans medications and equipment. We need help from the transport companies to get the supplies and people to those who need it.