Eye health class teaches Iraqis new skills, promotes wellness

Multi-National Force - Iraq ^ | Spc. Laura M. Bigenho

[SandRat]

BAGHDAD — When Army Maj. Anne Burnley was told she only had 90 days to make a difference in Iraq, she knew she had to come up with something fast.

“When I arrived here, I was told (by my commander) to be bold, find a project that was close to my heart and run with it,” Burnley said.

The preventive medicine officer deployed to Baghdad in May to support the 358th Civil Affairs Brigade as an individual augmentee.

She wanted to begin a medical project that was sustainable and could be done in a short amount of time. After conducting research, she made contact with a community eye health promoter program in Mexico, and they sent her materials to get started on a program of her own — a project which allowed Burnley to use her certification in ophthalmology, she said.

She decided to host a class for local Iraqis teaching them about eye care.

“The main objective of this class is to have people in the community who can do vision screening,” Burnley said.

“They’re not going to take over the job of a trained eye care specialist, but they can easily identify people who need to be seen by a specialist.”

One of Burnley’s assistants, Army Col. Gregg Hammond, 358th Civil Affairs Bde., said the top graduating students from the Preparatory Iraqi Nursing Course at the Civil Military Operations Center are eligible to take the class.

The special functions team chief said he hopes the class will help enable Iraqis to take over the CMOC while promoting health awareness.

“This class will help promote wellness throughout the community as far as teaching them how to screen and assess eye health,” Hammond said. “We’re helping Iraqis in the neighborhood and helping the Iraqi army transition to eventually have control of all these programs.”

Burnley said students already have a basic knowledge of healthcare, which helps them achieve success in the class.

“They have a basic background due to (PINC), which is important in this class,” she said. “They have a foundation from which to build.” Burnley also said most of the students either work or volunteer at the CMOC, performing tasks such as checking patients’ blood pressure.

Upon completion of class, students will also be able to help with screening vision. More importantly, Burnley added that graduates will contribute to the community by screening people for vision problems and referring them to eye care specialists.

For Sarah, a 21-year-old student, the class makes her feel like she is making a positive difference.

“This class gives me more information,” Sarah said. “I will be able to use it to help patients. (I will) know if there is a problem and (will) send them to another doctor for more help.”

Sarah is not the only one who feels she is making a difference. Hammond and Burnley said they also feel like they are making progress in Baghdad.

“We want to help restore the health and wellness of the Iraqi community here,” Hammond said. “Our goal is to help give full responsibility over to the Iraqis.”

Burnley said she finds her students’ enthusiasm gratifying and hopes the program will expand.

“An education is never wasted. If you educated one person, that person can educate another person,” Burnley said. “Sometimes it’s hard with everything else going on, but if these programs spread around the country, I think we can make a big difference.”

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!

[txhurl]

Happy news! There’s another thread where we might be able to buy some Iraqi clothing soon, too.

[SandRat]

I know, I put the thread up...