Seeing the light

One of the coolest and most rewarding experiences I have had lately was helping my friend Roger distribute prescription glasses in the small mountain village of Garcia Moreno. A volunteer medical brigade of eye doctors from the U.S. had visited the community previously to provide eye exams. They returned to the states to process the prescriptions then sent the glasses to Roger, who was responsible for getting them to their new owners. When we pulled into town around 10:30 a.m. we were mobbed with people. It felt like being surrounded by paparazzi! An old woman said she had been waiting since dawn for us to come. Feeling a little overwhelmed and pressed for time since we were delayed by our eating extravaganza in Las Lajas (see previous post ), we tried to get organized as quickly as we could. Unable to get into the community building, we set up shop on the steps overlooking the concrete fútbol field. Working off a handwritten list, we divided the men and women into two groups and then laid out the glasses in clear plastic bags on the steps. Frank and I coordinated with the women while Jer and Roger worked with the men. One by one we called the women’s name from the list and matched her with her new glasses. It was like each one won the lottery. The women hugged and kissed me and said “God bless you” over and over. I felt totally undeserving of their genuine heartfelt appreciation. I was just helping to pass the glasses out and I could not take credit for any of the other goodness…a fact I tried to explain but this didn’t seem to matter to them. They were just sooo happy. Some of the oldest women had tears in their eyes as they looked out through the lenses to see the world more clearly for their first time decades. One of them remarked that they never knew what that sign they pointed to off in the distance said. Others joked that they may not like their husbands so much now that they can actually see them clearly.
Roger and one of the men from Garcia Moreno with his new glasses.

As I said, it was one of the most rewarding things I have done here, even if I did very little to deserve the appreciation of the people. It definitely reminded all of us how much we take for granted our good optical , dental AND medical care. Yeah, yeah, the U.S. healthcare system is really screwed up, but it is hard to complain about the quality of care and the ease of access to doctors (meaning no half-day trips on a bumpy bus just to get to a city). And you don't need new glasses to see that.