Mission in Costa Rica

Join Us in Making a Difference:

Hands With Heart Foundation Mission in Costa Rica

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to be part of a life-changing experience from November 11-20, as the Hands With Heart Foundation embarks on a mission to deliver free healthcare to underprivileged children with disabilities in the remote indigenous communities of the Talamanca jungle, Costa Rica.

These children, often living in isolated areas, have little to no access to the healthcare they so desperately need. As optometrists, our skills can profoundly impact their lives, restoring not just sight but hope for a brighter future.

During this mission, we will be treating children with severe disabilities, many of whom have never been able to access professional eye care. This is an opportunity for you to give back to those who need it most, using your expertise to support their development and well-being.

At Hands With Heart Foundation, you will also have the unique opportunity to work as part of a multidisciplinary team, collaborating with osteopaths, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals from different countries. Together, we can create a holistic approach to improving the health and quality of life for these children, ensuring they receive the care they deserve in all aspects of their health.

By joining this mission, you will:

- Provide essential care to children who may have visual impairments affecting their learning and quality of life.

- Work alongside local professionals and international volunteers, sharing techniques and knowledge in a rich, multicultural setting.

- Contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and help us build a more equitable world, one child at a time.

The Hands With Heart Foundation, which has been recognized by the United Nations for its healthcare work, has deep connections with local communities and a history of impactful missions. We’re not only reaching out to the underserved but creating lasting change through capacity building and the transfer of knowledge.

Together, we can ensure that every child, no matter how far they live from modern healthcare facilities, has the chance to thrive. Your participation will not only touch the lives of these children and their families but also leave a lasting imprint on your heart.

This is more than a mission. it’s a movement to bring hope, compassion, and care to where it’s needed most.

Will you join us?

Further information can be found at the link provided below:

https://handswithheart.notion.site/COSTA-RICA-MISSION-November-11-20-ce724e4831f14816bc9420c1673b7e1f

Be the difference. Be the heart.

For more information and to register your interest, please contact us at hello@handswithheartfoundation.org.

Best regards,                                                                                                  

Jorge Aranda                                                                                         

President and Founder

Hands with Heart Foundation

Tired of watching? The neuro-optometrist can help you with 'physio for your eyes'

This article on Behavioral Optometry was published on December 7, 2023 by Margreet Kwaks from Brabant’s Dagblad - The Netherlands.

She interviewed our Colleague Rob Gevers from Berlicum, The Netherlands.

Here is the Direct link to the Dutch Article. —->

 

Article Translation

BERLICUM - Sometimes you can see well, but you still have problems with watching.

Sound complicated? That may be true, says Rob Gevers.

Berlicum. As a neuro-optometrist, he has been treating people with diabetes for years eye complaints, and there are more and more of them. “They are almost always people with sedentary jobs who look at a screen at a short distance.”

“When I came to Rob for an intake, a world opened up for me,” says Ellen Scherff (40) from Haarsteeg. She has been struggling with this for several years. Pain in her eyes causing her to become increasingly unable to do so. Driving becomes one problem. A visit to the neurologist proved fruitless and the lenses and eye drops that the ophthalmologist recommended did not help either.

Gevers measures the condition of the eyes like a kind of physiotherapist for the eyes 'visual system' of its customers. “An ophthalmologist knows as a medical specialist everything about the eyes, but less about looking,

” Gevers explains. In case of Ellen Scherff concludes that her left and right eyes are not working properly together and her eyes are too far outward.

Practice for fifteen minutes every day

Gevers made a treatment plan to adjust her 'visual lifestyle' with (day) light, space and movement as pillars.

The rehabilitation process demands quite a bit from the customer.” Scherff knows that as no other, because she follows visual training every four weeks for a year, consisting of exercises, tests and measurements.

She also gets exercises which she does for fifteen minutes every day. “It was really tough.

I went every month on the racing bike to Oogbalans, to arrive as rested as possible” she says.

“But the treatments have made me happy and changed my life."

Rob Gevers, Neuro-Optometrist

Primordial man mainly looked far away in a natural environment.

When Rob Gevers (67) started as an optician, contact lens specialist, fifty years ago, he noticed that a number of customers continued to have complaints despite their glasses or lenses. Out of curiosity about why, he delved into his profession. After completing his HBO training as an optometrist, he was introduced to neuro-optometry at an American conference 25 years ago. He specialized through various international training courses and now his Oogbalans practice in Berlicum is one of the few practices in the Netherlands that specializes in functional optometry.

Digital age doesn't help

Gevers foresees many 'visual burnouts' due to the digital age. "I notice in my practice that people with complaints often still see well, but become exhausted from looking. They are almost always people with sedentary jobs where they look at a screen from a short distance. I've never seen a gardener before. Our visual system in which your eyes, brain and body work together cannot cope with this rapid change. Primordial man mainly looked far away in a natural environment to protect himself from danger.”

The two-month waiting list at Oogbalans also strengthens Gevers believes that the need for functional optometry is growing. His customers come from far and wide. On average, a treatment process at Oogbalans lasts six months and costs 1,500 euros.

Functional optometry is not included in the basic package, but is included in the supplementary package with some health insurance policies.

 

For Reactions & More Information

Contact Rob Gevers @

Oogbalans Optometrie & Visuele training

Mercuriusplein 25

5258 AX Berlicum

The Netherlands

oogbalans@optometrist.nl

Telefoon:+31 073-6110085

Strabismus - A testimony from Simon from the Netherlands

In this video Simon explains how he improved his vision through visual training.

Your eyes are a few centimeters apart.

This means that the image of your left eye is slightly different from the image of your right eye. Your brain combines these images and voila, depth! Do you suffer from strabismus or a lazy eye? Are you blind in one eye or do your eyes not work well together for another reason? Then you see no depth. You are then depth blind. Your brain then misses a lot of information about your environment. A fancy word for strabismus is strabismus. This video is intended for people who have difficulty watching in any way. Your visual system and depth perception are extremely important for your functioning and well-being.

If you have problems with your eyes, this can lead to concentration problems, double vision, headaches and many more complaints.

The video is spoken in the Dutch language.

This information is posted by our colleague Rob Gevers from the Netherlands.