In an effort to combat visual impairment and blindness in the Americas, Help The World See, began several years ago to explore the possibility of building primary eye care clinics and eyeglass production facilities in economically disadvantaged countries. The clinics were intended to be fully self-financing and require no outside subsidies or grants, and service would be targeted to low-income, underserved populations who otherwise would receive no care. As such, fees for services and products would be low-cost and affordable to most of the population, although the quality of the care and the eyeglasses must remain high. The concept was first implemented with a non-governmental organization in Belize, The Belize Council for the Visually Impaired in 1993, and then a second facility was established in 1994 with the Centro Colombiano de Salud Visual in Bogota, Colombia. In addition to these organizationsïregular services, which were comprised respectively of rehabilitation for the blind and low-cost surgeries. Help The World See helped establish primary eye care screening and low-cost spectacles programs. In order to establish these primary eye care and spectacles clinics, Help The World See first received a formal invitation from the host countries and then raised financing through donations and grants to purchase and install equipment for producing eyeglasses