From volunteer outreach to an enduring institution
From volunteer outreach to an enduring institution
Dr. Rainald Duerksen graduated from the National University of Asunción as a Medical Doctor and Surgeon in 1987 and completed ophthalmology training at Elias Santana Hospital in Santo Domingo in 1991. He later practised in Asunción.
Fundación Visión’s official history says volunteers led by Duerksen began eye-care work at Mennonite Hospital Km. 81 in 1992. Periodic visits to Yalve Sanga followed, including a first recorded surgical campaign in March 1993. Fundación Visión was formally established in October 1999.
The model grew from outreach and a small operating space into a network described by institutional partners as combining a comprehensive eye hospital, clinics, mobile services, satellite services, training and a residency programme. Those facilities and historic figures belong to the Paraguay programme and must not be presented as DRC capacity.
Regional leadership and training
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness reports that Duerksen served two terms as Regional Chair for Latin America, helped expand VISION 2020 Latin America and supported ties with WHO and PAHO. It also identifies him as a CBM consultant for Latin America.
Partnership records connect Fundación Visión with CBM, Seva, the International Eye Foundation and ZEISS. A dedicated phacoemulsification training centre was inaugurated in Asunción in 2018 with CBM and ZEISS support, extending a model in which clinical delivery and professional training reinforce one another.
Recognition and evidence
CBM Austria and Paraguayan media reported that Duerksen received Germany’s Federal Cross of Merit in 2019. He also co-authored a peer-reviewed national survey documenting major changes in blindness and cataract-surgery coverage in Paraguay between 1999 and 2011; the paper does not prove that one organization alone caused the national change.
How leadership is described today
This site describes Duerksen as founder and historic executive and medical leader of Fundación Visión. Fundación Visión’s 2024 Year in Review names Ryan Toews as CEO. ChOSEN separately identifies Duerksen as its Congo CEO and says he joined its Congo work full-time in 2025.