Many years ago, Dr. James Boyce, a American minister & missionary physician, and his family were living & working in Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico. Noticing a high incidence of cataracts, Dr. Boyce invited Dr. and Mrs. Jerre Freeman to Ometepec to see if they could help. During that first visit in 1970, Dr. Freeman performed four cataract surgeries and several pterygiums. The need was so overwhelming that Dr. Freeman vowed to return each year. He has never wavered from that commitment. For a span of 44 years Dr. Freeman has led hundreds of physicians, nurses and support personnel to Ometepec each November. In an effort to meet the seemingly never ending need, in 2003, WCF began sending a spring team every year. The World Cataract Foundation Mexico, A.C. was established on June 20, 2001 in Acapulco, Mexico.

 

Government officials recognized the ophthalmologists in the state of Guerrero for being # 1 in treating more blind poor than any other state in Mexico. WCF's work in Ometepec helped them reach the numbers necessary to receive this award. Guerrero government officials, Mexican ophthalmologists, and WCF are working together to eliminate cataract blindness in the state of Guerrero.