The Surprise Clinic Day
It is American Thanksgiving today. Instead of turkey and waiting for shopping deals I am serving people who are truly grateful to have their eyes checked, often for the first time.
We are fully prepared for a large crowd and excited about the task at hand. Loaded into the van, we cruise through the streets of Santa Ana. It is not very busy yet but we are slowed down by a few cows on the road.
We pull into a community centre compound that has several buildings in bright Miami colours and sports fields. It is funded by the government as a youth retreat and outreach to keep them from joining gangs.
We are greeted by some very excited young people in bright orange shirts. They are volunteers from Melvin’s church who want to help us. They are energetic and friendly and I am glad to have their energy. It takes us some time to get organized and figure out what the best set up should be. We finally find 2 adjacent rooms and will use the hallway for waiting areas.
When the families arrive, we are welcomed and introduced. Pastor Melvin has a program for them and then we started the optical assessments.
It was great to have the whole team working together and the flow was smooth and relaxed. I had a few more very near-sighted people that needed large prescriptions, lots of readers and more children.
One mother and son were especially challenging. Both had a big difference between the prescriptions in each of their eyes. We really didn’t have a good option for them and they had driven 3hrs to come for glasses. It turns out last year, a group of people came to their area doing eye tests and selling glasses. They had to pay for the glasses before they would be ordered. However, after paying for glasses, they people never cam back. I felt our team really needed to help this family. I spoke with our team leader and she agreed with me. I took all their measurements and we will be going to a local optical place that can be trusted and ordering them new glasses. That felt great.
My interpreter today and for most of my time in El Salvador is Nelson. He is actually American and from California. 1.5yrs ago he came to the country for his father’s funeral. When He declared at the boarder the amount of money he had, the security person notified the police. The police pulled him over, took the money saying it was for drugs. To avoid going to jail, he plead guilty and now has 5yrs of community service to complete. This is why blanket policies on refugees and immigrants with criminal records isn’t a good idea.
Although we were expecting more people, we had finish everyone in line and 42 people had their eyes checked. I was actually very grateful as my head started to throb. We went back to our base at the church and got set up for the next day. Our team also had time to walk to the local supermarket and grab snacks or supplies. One of the things I have notice is that most things we purchase in bottles are sold in plastic bags instead. It uses less plastic and space and probably cheaper to ship.
Back at the church, we waited for the van to come and take us back to our accommodations. I really wasn’t feeling great and was glad that Dina was bringing dinner to us that night. I had a quick shower and a little snack but nothing was going to stave off the migraine that was about to take over my head. I took my first dose of medication and quickly ate dinner. Which was delicious meatballs and vegetables but I was so nauseous that it was hard to enjoy. I excused myself from the group, filled some ziplock bags with ice for a cold pack for my head and went to bed, hoping the treatment worked quickly. A few hours later I woke up needing more ice for my packs but feeling the medcidoing it’s work. I thought about all the people in the world who suffer in pain and sickness who don’t have this option and was grateful that I got so lucky.
We are fully prepared for a large crowd and excited about the task at hand. Loaded into the van, we cruise through the streets of Santa Ana. It is not very busy yet but we are slowed down by a few cows on the road.
We pull into a community centre compound that has several buildings in bright Miami colours and sports fields. It is funded by the government as a youth retreat and outreach to keep them from joining gangs.
We are greeted by some very excited young people in bright orange shirts. They are volunteers from Melvin’s church who want to help us. They are energetic and friendly and I am glad to have their energy. It takes us some time to get organized and figure out what the best set up should be. We finally find 2 adjacent rooms and will use the hallway for waiting areas.
When the families arrive, we are welcomed and introduced. Pastor Melvin has a program for them and then we started the optical assessments.
It was great to have the whole team working together and the flow was smooth and relaxed. I had a few more very near-sighted people that needed large prescriptions, lots of readers and more children.
One mother and son were especially challenging. Both had a big difference between the prescriptions in each of their eyes. We really didn’t have a good option for them and they had driven 3hrs to come for glasses. It turns out last year, a group of people came to their area doing eye tests and selling glasses. They had to pay for the glasses before they would be ordered. However, after paying for glasses, they people never cam back. I felt our team really needed to help this family. I spoke with our team leader and she agreed with me. I took all their measurements and we will be going to a local optical place that can be trusted and ordering them new glasses. That felt great.
My interpreter today and for most of my time in El Salvador is Nelson. He is actually American and from California. 1.5yrs ago he came to the country for his father’s funeral. When He declared at the boarder the amount of money he had, the security person notified the police. The police pulled him over, took the money saying it was for drugs. To avoid going to jail, he plead guilty and now has 5yrs of community service to complete. This is why blanket policies on refugees and immigrants with criminal records isn’t a good idea.
Although we were expecting more people, we had finish everyone in line and 42 people had their eyes checked. I was actually very grateful as my head started to throb. We went back to our base at the church and got set up for the next day. Our team also had time to walk to the local supermarket and grab snacks or supplies. One of the things I have notice is that most things we purchase in bottles are sold in plastic bags instead. It uses less plastic and space and probably cheaper to ship.
Back at the church, we waited for the van to come and take us back to our accommodations. I really wasn’t feeling great and was glad that Dina was bringing dinner to us that night. I had a quick shower and a little snack but nothing was going to stave off the migraine that was about to take over my head. I took my first dose of medication and quickly ate dinner. Which was delicious meatballs and vegetables but I was so nauseous that it was hard to enjoy. I excused myself from the group, filled some ziplock bags with ice for a cold pack for my head and went to bed, hoping the treatment worked quickly. A few hours later I woke up needing more ice for my packs but feeling the medcidoing it’s work. I thought about all the people in the world who suffer in pain and sickness who don’t have this option and was grateful that I got so lucky.
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