Our team is amazing. So far, we´ve helped about 14,000 people see! The smiles on the childrens´faces are priceless. Smile is Sonria in Spanish. I´ve actually found myself speaking Spanglish to my teammates! And what´s cooler is that I´m starting to understand the Spanish language better when it´s spoken to me.
Amy gave away her father´s glasses the other day. It was another moment I´ll never forget. Her father passed away two years ago, and the man who received the glasses was so grateful. Amy was in tears, and so was everybody around her! not only did the recipenet receive a pair of glasses, but he also got a bonus pair of presctiption sunglasses!
We´re all starting to miss home a bit. We started round two of clinic days today, after two days of freetime. I´m so lucky to be on a mission in such a georgeour place. We went shopping Saturday, and I bought a bunch of Guatemalan fabrics. We also took a tour of a coffee plantation. It was an extremely hot and humid day, but we all graciously accepted a cup of hot coffee at the end of the tour. I also bought four bags for myself!
Sunday, we took what was supposed to be an hour busride to an eco-park, but it turned out to be three hours. I´m starting to truly appreciate modern pavement at home! At the eco park, we all went ziplining! It was SO MUCH FUN!
I think I´m going to have to post photos when I get home. I don´t have much time on the computers when I have free time, so next week, look for fotos.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
by the way...
Saturday is our first of two free days. I hope to take some time to learn how to upload pictures. You need to see how awesome this experience is!
Cipro, Immodium, Gas-X and Glasses. Oh my!
Well, I got sick. I ate something that made me feel queasy, and boy, am I glad my roommate is a doctor. She had quite a supply of Cipro, and after a night of tossing, turning, and praying that I wouldn´t need to use the garbage can next to my bed, I´m ok. Thank goodness for modern medicine! She said that on one of her previous missions to Mexico, she picked up a bunch of the stuff.
So far, we´ve helped about 7,500 people see! I´m so happy to be able to be part of this mission. Especially today...
This morning, I was again at the autorefracting station. After lunch (which looked like poo but was actually vegetables rolled up in beef), I moved to IMS (Inventory Management System). This is where we enter the prescriptions that the doctors write into the computers and find the best match.
I was at IMS yesterday - all day. I wrote out a copy of Uncle Pete´s prescription for all of the five computers, hoping that someone would find the right recipient for his glasses. Unfortunately, nobody was a good match. Until today. :)
Last night at dinner, I told the story of Uncle Pete´s glasses to some of the doctors. Of course I lost it just telling them... Every time I told the story, I bawled! (Uncle Pete was laughing at me the whole time, too, I´m sure!) The docs said they´d keep an eye out for the Rx for me.
About two hours after lunch, Doctor Max came up to IMS and asked Mitch, who was sitting next to me, if he could look up another pair of glasses for him. The glasses selected weren´t a good match for the recipient. Mitch said - wait a minute, Erin - give me that prescription. My heart pounded... Dr. Max said that Uncle Pete´s Rx was an excellent match! I screamed!
I grabbed my camera and Amy, who was sitting next to me, and Susan, who was like - what´s all the commotion?! and went out to meet Pedro. That´s what I call him, because I never saw his name, and he looked a lot like Pedro from Napolean Dynamite.
I explained, as best I could in Spanish, to Pedro, that these glasses are very especial. They were my Uncle´s, who is with God now, since ten months. (Literally, that´s all I knew how to say!) He was quiet and asked the translator if the glasses were mine. So much for my Spanish!
I was in tears - of joy. People all around me were taking pictures, because they all knew how important this moment was to me.
Now, let me back up a bit. Last night at dinner, I was explaining how I was upset that I couldn´t find a match. A bunch of people told me that it was only day two, and that the right person just wasn´t here yet.
As most of you know, Uncle Pete was a Major League Baseball fan. He collected fitted caps from all the teams. After he passed, I was fortunate enough to be able to select one of his caps, so I chose the Angels, because he was my angel.
Pedro was not only a good match for the glasses, but he was also wearing a Major League Baseball hat today. It wasn´t the Angels, but it was Los Angeles - literally translated , ¨The Angles.¨
I truly believe that he was meant to receive those glasses. A teammate, who was born in Cuba and speaks Spanish, was able to tell him how special the glasses are to me, and that he got to keep the case. Pedro was stoked about that case!
Dr. Max said the whole experience gave him chills. It was his first pair of glasses that he dispensed, and for that to be his first pair was awesome.
Believe me, it was awesome for me too.
There are approximately 22-24 languages spoken in Coban, Guatemala. Most of them speak Spanish, and my Spanish is improving daily. The other most common language is Chi. At least that´s how it sounds when it´s spoken. The people who speak Chi look to be native Mayans. In more common terms, they look Native American, but they´re native Mayan.
So far, we´ve helped about 7,500 people see! I´m so happy to be able to be part of this mission. Especially today...
This morning, I was again at the autorefracting station. After lunch (which looked like poo but was actually vegetables rolled up in beef), I moved to IMS (Inventory Management System). This is where we enter the prescriptions that the doctors write into the computers and find the best match.
I was at IMS yesterday - all day. I wrote out a copy of Uncle Pete´s prescription for all of the five computers, hoping that someone would find the right recipient for his glasses. Unfortunately, nobody was a good match. Until today. :)
Last night at dinner, I told the story of Uncle Pete´s glasses to some of the doctors. Of course I lost it just telling them... Every time I told the story, I bawled! (Uncle Pete was laughing at me the whole time, too, I´m sure!) The docs said they´d keep an eye out for the Rx for me.
About two hours after lunch, Doctor Max came up to IMS and asked Mitch, who was sitting next to me, if he could look up another pair of glasses for him. The glasses selected weren´t a good match for the recipient. Mitch said - wait a minute, Erin - give me that prescription. My heart pounded... Dr. Max said that Uncle Pete´s Rx was an excellent match! I screamed!
I grabbed my camera and Amy, who was sitting next to me, and Susan, who was like - what´s all the commotion?! and went out to meet Pedro. That´s what I call him, because I never saw his name, and he looked a lot like Pedro from Napolean Dynamite.
I explained, as best I could in Spanish, to Pedro, that these glasses are very especial. They were my Uncle´s, who is with God now, since ten months. (Literally, that´s all I knew how to say!) He was quiet and asked the translator if the glasses were mine. So much for my Spanish!
I was in tears - of joy. People all around me were taking pictures, because they all knew how important this moment was to me.
Now, let me back up a bit. Last night at dinner, I was explaining how I was upset that I couldn´t find a match. A bunch of people told me that it was only day two, and that the right person just wasn´t here yet.
As most of you know, Uncle Pete was a Major League Baseball fan. He collected fitted caps from all the teams. After he passed, I was fortunate enough to be able to select one of his caps, so I chose the Angels, because he was my angel.
Pedro was not only a good match for the glasses, but he was also wearing a Major League Baseball hat today. It wasn´t the Angels, but it was Los Angeles - literally translated , ¨The Angles.¨
I truly believe that he was meant to receive those glasses. A teammate, who was born in Cuba and speaks Spanish, was able to tell him how special the glasses are to me, and that he got to keep the case. Pedro was stoked about that case!
Dr. Max said the whole experience gave him chills. It was his first pair of glasses that he dispensed, and for that to be his first pair was awesome.
Believe me, it was awesome for me too.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Fourteen Hundred Helped!
We had the first fay of clinic today with only 3 hours sleep last night. We got to the Guatemala airport around 9:30, and what was supposed to be a 2.5 hour drive turned out to be a grueling FOUR hour rollercoaster ride from HELL! By the time we got to bed, we pretty much had to get up. Amazingly, we all made it through the day with so much energy and enthusiasm to help 1400 people see.
I worked on the autorefractor. This is a machine that pre-screens vision before the doctor sees the patient. It gives them an idea of where to start when they do an eye exam.
I learned much more Spanish today! I think I may become fluent by the time I go home. Some Morman missionaries helped us translate today, and one of them (who has been here 20 months) said my Spanish was better than his! He also told us all about his encounters with various bugs and icky things during his time here. I had to tune that out. I´m thankful my roommate brought a citronella candle.
Dinner´s in an hour, and we´ll probably all crash after that. I hear we´re having chicken cordon bleu.
Our hotel is nice. The air conditioning consists of opening the window. Thank goodness we´re on the bottom floor! My favorite part of the hotel so far is the fact that there are wild orchids growing all over the place - types I haven´t seen anywhere before.
Our team is phenenominal. We´re working so well together already. I´m excited for day two of clinic tomorrow!
Gonna go clean up. It´s hot here, and I´m stinky.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Journey of Uncle Pete's Glasses
This is my Uncle Pete and me. He passed away last August. He was a super-great guy, and now his glasses will go to help someone in Guatemala see.
Below is Sue in a LensCrafters store reading the prescription. The glasses are on the machine next to her. He didn't have a strong prescription, but he did need bifocals to read.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
T-minus three days and counting...
Hi everyone! I'm going to attempt to blog from Cobán, Guatemala. I leave for a Give the Gift of Sight international mission on Monday, June 16. I'm super excited to help people see, as I firmly believe it's a basic human right. So many people, in so many countries don't have the modern technology that we in the United States do, to be able to check their eyes every year. Like we can.
I went on my first mission to Romania, in 2006. The number of people whose damaged eyes I looked at through an autorefractor was so sad. They'd tell me that they had surgery in their country to counteract cataracts or fix another problem. They hoped that we would be a miracle for them. For most of those people, the best we could do to help was to give them sunglasses.
The people we were able to help were so grateful. I witnessed a little boy see his mom for the first time. His smile is one I'll never forget! I had elderly men kiss my hands in thanks, and old women blessing me and the United States for what we did for them. I had young volunteers cry in my arms, thanking me for what we did for them and their country - and saying that they'd miss us terribly and to please come back.
This will be another once-in-a-lifetime for me. I'm very much looking forward to helping people see. As a photographer, I couldn't imagine not being able to do so!
I truly hope to be able to post to this blog as I'm giving the gift of sight! The days are long and tiring. My first priority is to the misison, my second to my team, and my third to letting you know what's happening.
Send good thoughts to us, and if you're the type, prayers. My team and I can use it!
I went on my first mission to Romania, in 2006. The number of people whose damaged eyes I looked at through an autorefractor was so sad. They'd tell me that they had surgery in their country to counteract cataracts or fix another problem. They hoped that we would be a miracle for them. For most of those people, the best we could do to help was to give them sunglasses.
The people we were able to help were so grateful. I witnessed a little boy see his mom for the first time. His smile is one I'll never forget! I had elderly men kiss my hands in thanks, and old women blessing me and the United States for what we did for them. I had young volunteers cry in my arms, thanking me for what we did for them and their country - and saying that they'd miss us terribly and to please come back.
This will be another once-in-a-lifetime for me. I'm very much looking forward to helping people see. As a photographer, I couldn't imagine not being able to do so!
I truly hope to be able to post to this blog as I'm giving the gift of sight! The days are long and tiring. My first priority is to the misison, my second to my team, and my third to letting you know what's happening.
Send good thoughts to us, and if you're the type, prayers. My team and I can use it!
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