When Megan Webber, Co-Founder of KnowTheGlow, and Helene Dameris, Director of Global Outreach, met with Carolyn Newman, they were deeply moved by the story of ACE Global. Carolyn, the organization’s Executive Director, has devoted more than 40 years to nonprofit work, and her passion for creating sustainable eye care in Honduras left a lasting impression on both Megan and Helene. What astonished them most was how Carolyn and her team have transformed short-term mission work into a sustainable system that trains, equips, and empowers local doctors to serve their own communities.
Advanced Center for Eyecare Global, ACE Global, began informally in 2018 and formally launched the first-ever Honduran Anterior Segment Fellowship in 2020 with a bold vision: to replace a temporary “fly-in, fly-out” model with one rooted in local capacity, training, and independence. Carolyn explained that, in the past, many Hondurans had no choice but to wait for visiting Americans to perform cataract surgeries. For ACE Global’s founder, Dr. Kevin Barber, this was never enough. He wanted to give doctors in Honduras the tools and training to provide high-quality care without depending on outsiders.
Honduras, a country of 11 million people, faces daunting challenges in eye care. There are only 150 ophthalmologists nationwide, with just 50 trained surgeons. The country produces only six new ophthalmologists a year, and many leave in search of opportunities abroad. ACE Global’s solution was to create fellowship programs that keep doctors with their families while they train, preparing them to open independent practices that serve low- and middle-income families.
A cornerstone of ACE Global’s model is Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS). This highly effective technique is widely used in developing countries where advanced technology such as phacoemulsification is not readily available. MSICS is a low-cost procedure that uses a small, self-sealing, sutureless incision to safely and efficiently remove cataracts. U.S. physicians travel to Honduras to learn this method and perform surgeries alongside Honduran doctors, an exchange that strengthens both local capacity and global collaboration.
The impact has been extraordinary. Now on its 7th generation of fellows, ACE Global has trained doctors not only from Honduras but also from Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, and Mexico. Fellows return to underserved areas, where they carry out life-changing procedures and expand access to care. Each fellow in the ACE Global program sees as many as 100 patients a week in the clinic and performs approximately 600 surgeries/procedures annually. In the past year alone, ACE Global recorded approximately 12,000 clinic patient visits and performed 2,000 surgeries, including critical pediatric cataract procedures that restore vision to children and hope to their families.
But ACE Global’s approach goes beyond training doctors. The organization provides an intensive Entrepreneurial Course and select small business loans and equipment to help fellows upon graduation to open clinics. Board member Sara O’Connor, MD, MPH, and a dynamic Ophthalmic Technician Committee have created their own ophthalmic technician training programs, and have also created a curriculum to train community health workers to sustain eye care in remote areas. In one year, ACE Global, along with its Honduran partners, has trained over 100 Vision Health Workers. These health workers also play a vital role in local schools and churches, spotting vision problems early and connecting children with the help they need.
ACE Global’s model has been so effective that it has caught the attention of global leaders in eye health. ALCON and SEE International provide support, and fellows rotate through Bascom Palmer, University of Illinois, Chicago, MD Anderson, and Emory to strengthen their skills. With four permanent locations and a nearly year-round presence in Honduras, ACE Global has embedded itself deeply into the fabric of the local healthcare system.
Carolyn’s long-term vision is to make herself obsolete by building a self-sufficient Honduran nonprofit that can stand entirely on its own. Already, ACE fellows are training new generations of doctors, ensuring that the impact grows exponentially.
For Megan and Helene, the conversation was both humbling and inspiring. They saw in ACE Global a partner whose mission aligns beautifully with KnowTheGlow’s own vision of sustainable awareness and early detection. Carolyn’s work astonished them, and they left the meeting with a profound sense of admiration for the extraordinary systems she has helped create. KnowTheGlow is now looking forward to collaborating with ACE Global, confident that together they can bring awareness and care to even more children and families in Honduras.
