A project funded, in part, by the Lima Rotary Club brought sight to nearly 100 people in Costa Rica.
 
Lima's Dr. John Pajka travels the world bringing sight to people who can't afford eye surgery. He and Chuck Stammen from the Celina Rotary Club, along with student translator Mariel Acosta, recently returned from Costa Rica where Dr. Pajka performed cataract surgery on nearly 100 people. The trip cost $18,000 and it was funded in part by the Rotary Clubs of Lima, Celina and New Bremen. Dr. Pajka told us that in the Nicoya Peninsula where they performed the work, there is a backlog of 600 people waiting for cataract surgery, because even though the government provides free insurance, there is a long wait for service. Dr. Pajka hopes to return to the area and perform more eye surgeries and bring a dermatologist with him. On a trip to Ethiopia in April he performed 500 cataract surgeries and in Bolivia he performed 200 surgeries. 
Also at Monday's meeting, we welcomed Dr. Ramesh Vadula as the newest member of the Lima Rotary Club, awarded Rashawna Perry her blue badge, gave Tracie Sanchez her Paul Harris Level 2 pin, and had a good laugh over Happy Dollars. Dick Schroeder encouraged us to see how many recognition points we've accumulated and think about what we'd like to do with them.