Cross volunteers to help Jamaicans see clearly

LONGMONT – Richard Cross, a Longmont resident, changes the way people see the world, and for hundreds of Jamaicans, he does it for free.

Recipient of the Boulder County Business Report’s 2008 Health-Care Heroes Volunteer Award, Cross, an optometrist, began treating patients in Jamaica as a part of a larger medical mission in 1996.

He was overwhelmed by the need he encountered.

“We could only physically get through about 100 patients a day so we agreed to come back the next year and get to see some of the people we had to turn away,” Cross said of his first medical mission to Jamaica.

The power of the experience moved Cross to cofound the Eye Health Institute Inc. with a colleague and college friend, Joseph Myers of Michigan. The institute, founded in 2001, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing vision relief for Jamaicans in need.

Cross, whose mother is Jamaican, and other volunteers with the Eye Health Institute have since returned to Jamaica yearly, bringing with them donated eye glasses, equipment and an experienced team who spend long hours in sometimes difficult conditions helping people see better.

Lisa McAlister, a former neighbor of Cross’, traveled to Jamaica as a volunteer with the Eye Health Institute in 2004. Her experience watching Cross with the patients, coupled with what she saw of his work back home, prompted her to nominate Cross for the Health-Care Heroes award.

“He’s amazing. He’s such a good listener, and he’s so patient,´ said McAlister, a Boulder resident and owner of a private publishing company. “And he’s so modest about what he does.”

McAlister knew Cross for a while before he mentioned his work in Jamaica; something McAlister admires in him.

“I have a lot of respect for people who don’t help in the way that’s trendy or easy or usual,” McAlister said. Volunteers donate their time and travel expenses, and the Eye Health Institute raises money with events such as the Reggae on the Creek music festival or through donations at www.eyehealthinstitute.org.

Cross kept his patient, helpful, humble demeanor despite sometimes difficult conditions during the Jamaican medical mission for which McAlister volunteered.

“We would travel up to some of the more rural areas. It’s very bad road conditions, and the housing is like what you would imagine in a Third World country. One time we had no electricity, and it’s stifling hot,” McAlister said. Regardless of the conditions, Cross sees close to 500 patients in a week on the trips.

The Eye Health Institute coordinates with the Jamaican Health Department, local churches and rotary clubs to set up clinic locations in advance and to let people know they are coming.

Word spreads, and people travel long distances to see Cross and his team. Many don’t realize how bad their vision has gotten.

Vision screening isn’t routine at schools in Jamaica, either, and some children miss out on their education as a result.

“We’ve had kids that were thought to be mentally impaired, and the only thing that was holding them back was the poor vision,” Cross said.

In one instance, a boy whose teachers and family thought him mentally handicapped turned out to be nearsighted. When given glasses – a donated, used pair Cross almost didn’t bring – the boy began reading from the board.

Cross also identifies patients with cataracts and arranges for some of them to get needed surgeries. Lack of eye-health education leaves some older patients wondering why they can’t see. Cataract surgeries, which can restore vision in a day, seem like a miracle. Some see their children’s faces again for the first time in years.

Cross finds the immediacy of treating his Jamaican patients rewarding and almost “addictive.” It also gives him the chance to give back to others and connect with the “global community.”

Cross feels fortunate to practice optometry in his Gun barrel-based Boulder Vision Associates practice but likes the break the missions to Jamaica offer him. His time in Jamaica teaches him important truths about life.

“I like working with people in Jamaica. They remind me that I need a whole lot less to be happy,” Cross said, and the Jamaicans appreciate people from the U.S. coming to help.

He traveled in July for a short mission, and the Eye Health Institute’s annual trip is scheduled for November. Trips made possible by generous people, Cross said.

“I guess the main thing I want to say is I’m extremely surprised and pleased and so proud of the generosity of the people who have volunteered from Boulder and Michigan … . It’s great to see how selfless and compassionate my fellow citizens are.”

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