Well, it is day three in Mexico and we have a
moment to write to say hello...
Let us tell you a little bit about what is
happening in our days.... The "Eye" Team got here on Thursday and
jumped into work. The team has 21 members, 4 of whom are doctors and the
others are working hard to help them get their job accomplished quicker and get
things checked in. The team had been hoping to see 200 patients everyday, but
have found that it is nigh unto impossible. ;)
The surgeon who wanted to come and do cataract and
other surgeries was unable to, so the patients that were being seen were
getting a full check up and fitted for glasses as best as possible. It is
incredible the things that are being discovered.
On Thursday, we had a "little" clinic to
see how things would go. It was supposed to be a couple hours, which went
into four. We then returned to the Centre for some supper and off to bed
to be up at 545 for the next day.
Friday was the day when we saw it was going to be
impossible to see so many patients. The clinic started at 8 and was
supposed to run until 5, but we didn't leave the clinic until about 830 at
night. Wow, what a line up when we arrived in the morning. There
were hundreds of people waiting to get an appointment. We had given out
numbers to about 160 people but unfortunately due to the complexity of the
cases it was impossible to see them all.
100 patients were seen when we left at 830.
On Saturday, another hundred people were seen which
created a long day for the team. We were
at the clinic from 8 am until 10 pm. When
we arrived, there was once again a huge line up. Some of these people had been waiting there
since 530 in the morning in order to be able to get a number. It was a
super long day; a day filled with difficult cases for the doctors who would
find such advanced stages of disease and then have to inform the people of
what was going on with their eye health.
Most of the patients that we had seen have had issues
with their eyes for years, and due to lack of funds were unable to afford an appointment
with a doctor. There are so many people that have difficult cases, either
due to disease, accident or birth defects. It is amazing how true the
saying is that the “eye is the window into the soul.” This is true not only of the soul but also
ones overall health.
We are so blessed to be a part of this team, to be
able to talk with these people and to help them in other ways with their
health. Although the days were tough,
the people we treated were so amazed with the care, compassion and patience
they were being treated with.
Today was a day without a clinic; we were able to
attend a service at the church where the clinic is being held and to relax a
little. We are looking forward to three
long days coming up, so may not be able to connect with you all until the team
leaves. It seems as though the internet
is having issues connecting as well as by the time we arrive back at the
Center, we head directly to bed. We hope
that your first few days in 2015 have been good!
We have tried to upload photos, but haven't been able to at this point. We will try again asap :)
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