Medical Missions

Each of the past four years Dr. Rabins has gone on a medical missions trip to another country, where he has performed eye care for some of the poorest people in the world. In 2004 he visited a remote area in the Aragats region of Armenia, and each of the past three years he’s been to Abelines, El Salvador.

Abelines is a village on a mountain in southeastern El Salvador near the Honduran border. It has a population of 2,000– 4,000, with another 6,000 scattered along the mountain. They are extremely poor, with most living on less than $1 a day. There is neither electricity (the fortunate ones use car batteries in their homes) nor running water (no toilets, only outhouses). The people grow crops and raise animals, walking 2-4 hours to get to stores where they buy and sell products.

The para-church group with whom Dr. Rabins works periodically brings in a doctor who provides primary care. However, the people cannot afford to see an optometrist, which is why this team effort is so important. The first year he saw well over a hundred optometry patients during his brief stay in Abelines --but this just scratched the surface of the need there. Many adults over 40 simply needed glasses for doing close-up work and many children needed basic reading glasses for school. A number of patients cried when he placed glasses on them and they could see well, some literally for the first time.