Page 38 - Southern Oregon Magazine Summer 2019

neck of the woods | prof ile

We in Southern Oregon are blessed with many, many people who give of
themselves—their time, talents, resources and energy—to help others. To name
and profile them all would fill a book. We’ve chosen a few, and over the next
several issues will present some of these folks, some you may not know. Perhaps,
reading about them will inspire you to reach out and offer your own talents,
your time and resources.

KURT & TOREE
WILKENING

by Steve Boyarsky &
by Jenny Warren

TOREE: After ten years, the idea of AmigoVision was
Q: TELL ME ABOUT AMIGOVISION. WHAT WAS THE hatched, its purpose to encourage the people in the host county not
ORIGIN OF THE PROJECT?
to depend on our presence for the clinic to happen.
KURT: AmigoVision is the result of Toree’s and my interest
in international medical missions. Our first trip was with a Canadian
nonprofit in 1986 that conducted a general health clinic in Jamaica. Q: HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?
I was the eye care specialist. We spent three very gritty weeks in
Kingston, Jamaica, trying to function in a project that was not well KURT: We initiate a clinic, partner with a local Rotary club
structured. We spent much of the time reorganizing the eye care part. and train them to run the clinic on their own. The local club figures
We loved it, but it was hard. out a location, organizes information and their members support the
clinic. The local Rotarians assume more responsibilities, and after
a couple of years we hand it off for them to continue. Vietnam and
Thailand were our first efforts at this collaboration.
Q: HOW DOES ROTARY FIT IN?
KURT: I joined Rotary in 1988. Rotarians are people who
want to make a difference. At one meeting, we heard a couple from
Arcata, California explain a Rotary project in Southern Mexico. Their Q: WHERE HAVE YOU DONE AMIGOVISION?
idea was to educate the children of migrant farm workers. The kids KURT: We traveled next to the Dominican Republic. We’ve
were always moving, and they never had a chance to get an education. worked in Peru, and in Malawi, East Africa and in the Philippines for
It occurred to me that if these kids weren’t able to see very well, they two years each. We just completed a project in Ecuador and currently
wouldn’t be able to learn very well.
have three local clinics going here in Southern Oregon as well.
TOREE: We went to Mexico in 2000 on an investigative
trip. Just the two of us. The work was really effective, and the volun-
teers were so dedicated. We were enlightened and inspired to make a Q: WHAT MAKES THE CLINICS SO REWARDING?
vision clinic work.
TOREE: People are just so grateful. When you put the cor-
KURT: We came back to Southern Oregon and invented a rect glasses on someone, the joy on their face just says … “Wow! This
basic idea of how to run an eye clinic. I involved members of the Bear is what I’m missing.” Patients can go back to work, they can read,
Creek Valley Rotary who were interested in taking on an international they can sew, they can use their tools. They can interact with their
project. We collected glasses, packed some equipment and set out family.
with a team of 10 people. We saw 750 patients the first week, and I
think we surprised ourselves. It worked! We ended up returning to In Vietnam there was a guy who had ridden a horse for two days to
Southern Mexico for ten years. Every year we took a different group get to the clinic. We couldn’t find the right prescription for him. We
of people and an improved clinic. just didn’t have a match. He kept sitting there. Another hour went by

36 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | summer 2019