The story of Fundación Visión

…The privilege of Seeing, hearing and smiling…

The Fundación Visión is a non-profit organization that was established in 1999 out of the initiative and serving spirit of its current General Director, Dr. Rainald Duerksen, with the support of several efficient and dedicated co-workers.

The idea began in 1992 with  „Programa Visión“, that was run by the Baptist Medical Centre of Asunción thanks to the generous support of the „Christoffel Blindenmission“ –  currently known as CBM (Christian Blind Mission) -   for the purpose of establishing a high quality ophthalmological service, focused especially on serving the people in the rural areas of the country, by offering low cost service to people who do not have access to ophthalmological attention


This program provided ophthalmology services at the facilities of Hospital Menonita (Menonite Hospital) near Asunción and served the indigenous population in Yalve Sanga (El Chaco) twice a year.

The rapid increase in the number of patients, the shortage of staff and limited opportunities to grow within the Baptist Medical Centre, required Programa Visión to become an independent organization and move to its current location.

And so, in 1999, Fundación Visión was born, and it was recognized by the Paraguayan government.

But the growth did not stop there; with help from PAHO (Pan American Health Organization), CBM (Christian Blind Mission), the Paraguayan Ministry of Public Health and the Paraguayan Society of Ophthalmology, the first national census of blind persons in Latin America was conducted in 1999. And thanks to an agreement with the National University of Asunción, since 2001 the Foundation has also been offering specialized training in ophthalmology.

In 2002, the first national VISION 2020 committee (CONAVIP) in Latin America was formed, with Fundación Visión playing an active part in its founding and development.

In 2005 Fundación Visión was able to purchase a large property and on February 1, 2006 – through the generous donation of CBM (US$ 500.000) – we began with the construction of the own clinic in Fernando de la Mora (Asunción). Due to this cause three million US dollars were required.

With the help and support of national and international friends we have been able to raise and implement half the money needed.

The aim of the project is to reach people who need our help. Contribute to the improvement of Health in Paraguay, particularly geared to the sector more unprotected.

Fundación Visión offers High Quality accessible for everyone.

“It is in our hands to change the quality of life of these people”.

Fundación Visión has three programs: “Programa Visión” (Seeing), “Programa Sonrisas” (Smiling) and “Programa Oír” (Hearing) Paraguay.

For more information about our work, view the space “Our ideal and backgrounds”