ENFOQUE IXCÁN

The mission of Enfoque Ixcán is to ensure that the people of the Ixcán region of Guatemala have access to vision and eye health care and eye health education. Enfoque Ixcán maximizes the use of local and regional resources and builds capacity and expertise among the population in order to empower local communities.

Changing of the Guard

Pedro Chom

After 30 years of service, our co-founder, Pedro Chom, has retired from his work with Enfoque Ixcan. Pedro served as an Eye Health Promoter for 20 years and had been our legal representative for our Guatemalan non-profit since 2016. His dedication to serving his community with eye care has been a huge part of our success. He continues to work for the public health department in the Ixcan.

I will cherish our friendship in the days ahead.

Another friend has stepped up to take Pedro’s place as our legal representative.

Emiliano Panjoj has served on our Council of Guatemalan Advisors for several years. Emiliano owns a survey company in Ixcán called Topo Campo. When we were securing the land for our clinic and making improvements to the clinic, Emiliano offered resources to make sure the jobs were completed correctly.

He and his family have been good friends to my wife and me for many years. He brings new ideas and energy to Enfoque Ixcan. We look forward to having him with us.

Scott Pike and Emiliano Panjoj

Earlier in August, the Pedro and Emilian met with the Enfoque Ixcán attorney, Benjamin Perez, to sign the paperwork for the transition.

Emiliano, Pedro, and Benjamin

Meet the New Enfoque Ixcán Visualiza Team!

The Enfoque Ixcán eye clinic in Ixcán, Guatemala has a new name and eye care team.

Nicolas, Luisa, and Carla

The new eye care team consists of Carla, the optometrist, Luisa, the clinic manager, and Nicolas, the counselor. They will be serving our Ixcán friends 6 days a week, providing prescription glasses and testing for eye health problems. Patients needing surgeries will be taken to the same eye hospital we have been using for several years.

Visualiza, the well know eye care organization in Guatemala, is now managing our clinic. This is Visualiza’s 13th Vision Center in Guatemala and they also have 4 eye hospitals located around the country. Enfoque Ixcán has been a Visualiza partner since 2003. We have sent hundreds of patients to their doctors for surgeries, mainly for cataracts, but also for glaucoma, retinal problems and other conditions.

Visualiza is known for providing eye care for the poor. They have reduced fees and all their centers work on a social service model. For example, a cataract surgery costs about $300. And, the quality of their work is top notch and each patient is treated professionally with respect.

Enfoque Ixcán will continue to use your donations to fund eye surgeries as we have for the past 23 years. Partnering with Visualiza will offer our patients a wider range of professional eye care on a more consistent basis.

We welcome Carla, Luisa, and Nicolas to represent us in our eye care mission.