Collaboration with CENAO

Project Nicaragua at Ohio State University also works to raise funds and acquire much needed medical supplies for El Centro Nacional de Oftalmologia (CENAO), the only public ophthalmology clinic and teaching hospital in the country. Dr. Thomas Mauger and Dr. Rebecca Kuennen of the OSU Department of Ophthalmology advise the Ohio State chapter, and both have made multiple medical mission trips to Nicaragua to provide essential cataract and corneal transplant surgeries to the neediest citizens.

During the 2009 trip, several founding members traveled to Nicaragua to establish a collaborative relationship with El Centro Nacional de Oftalmologia (CENAO), the only public ophthalmology clinic and teaching hospital in the country. Members from the Ohio State team observed ophthalmology surgeries in the hospital and initiated discussions with Nicaraguan Ophthalmology residents and hospital administrators about the challenges the hospital faces and potential channels of assistance from the Ohio State chapter.