Many of the villages we visit have only minimal medical care. You can see the delight on the people's faces when we provide them a solution to their medical concerns.

When you volunteer with LIGA, we notify villages that you are coming, and when possible order needed medications and tests for your clinic. We need your help for the LIGA San Blas Eye Clinic.


Since 1934, Liga (Flying Doctors of Mercy) a philanthropically volunteer organization, has been providing free medical care to the people of Sinaloa, Mexico. Nine months a year, privately owned planes, carrying four to six passengers, deliver passengers and supplies to the small communities of El Fuerte and San Blas, in Sinaloa Mexico. In a small concrete building, dentistry, eye surgery, facial plastics, podiatry, urologic, and gynecologic services are provided, free of charge, to these truly disadvantaged people.

San Blas is a small farming community far distant from the nearest medical care. Many of the patients that come to the Liga San Blas clinic must travel for hours. They come in anyway they can, including in auto, on foot or burro. They come because they have no access to medical care in Mexico and many times, we are their last resort. We see very advanced disease here.

LIGA has received the prestigious GEORGE Washington Medal of excellence award by the Freedom Foundation of Valley Forge for their humanitarian work in Mexico. The pilots were presented with the esteemed Aerospace Laureate Award by Aviation Week & Technology for flying light aircraft to provide desperately need health care in Mexico.

Global Sight Alliance, a worldwide organization of mission eye surgery programs has rated the Liga Ophthalmology program as one of their top rated programs. Here is the link: (http://www.globalsight.org/top-rated.html) LIGA International has several other medical surgical clinics in San Blas and El Fuerte including Orthopedics, Dental, Audiology, OB-GYN and others. The Ophthalmology clinic is the busiest of all the clinics, doing hundreds of cataract and other eye surgeries annually.

The eye team for our San Blas Liga clinic is directed by Robert Miller MD, Jonathan Perlman MD, and Bradley Sandler MD. For almost 20 years, their team has come to San Blas twice a year. On average, they perform more than 70 surgeries and treat more than 400 eye patients in one clinic weekend!

These ophthalmology doctors pay for all the expenses and travel for their entire team of technicians, nurses, and translators. Furthermore, they also provide the clinic with all the material supplies they need. Thus, these trips are not cheap, costing the doctors about $3500 for flight travel alone, not to mention the funds needed yearly for equipment and supplies!

In spite of the generosity of the eye team and Liga, additional funds are needed in order to provide the quality care these patients need. We are in much need of donations to help with the purchase of supplies and helping with the cost of travels.

In addition to surgical procedures the clinic also treats thousands of others with non-surgical medical eye problems. Much of the equipment and supplies have been donated by Alcon Humanitarian services and Lions Clubs of America. Patients receive all medical and surgical care FREE of CHARGE. Each LIGA volunteer pays their own way including nurses and doctors. In spite of the generosity of industry, additional funds are needed for this expensive endeavor. The money that is required to perform one cataract surgery is astounding. Each year the eye clinic requires funds for instrument repairs, purchasing new equipment and additional supplies. All donations are tax deductible (#95-6111-639).