well it has been an amazing 2 weeks its hard to believe that time can go by that fast. in 8 days of clinic we saw over 16000 people. pretty amazing when you think of it. we smoothed out our bumps from the first few days, tweaked some of the clinic setup and the working hours during the days got shorter, and we got more efficient at providing the best patient care we could. all of the recommendations that the team members suggested improved our working enviroment. there are so many stories that come from these clinics some that i have posted previousely,but some that were not posted. we had sickness among the team members ranging from cold and viral infections to one of our team having a chair come out from under her and splitting her head open for 7 stitches. i hope the pumpkin is feeling better lisa:-).
we helped people that may never have an opportunity to get glasses again see for the very first time. the reactions ranged from pure excitement to feelings of being overwhelmed at what they were missing. not only the visual aspect of these people were addressed but health issues relating to the patients were discovered and addressed as well. a young boy with a melinoma on his eye was found and hopefully be corrected so that eye will not have to be removed. we have referred other patients to the lions club that will need for corrective surgery as well. i mentioned previousely how a lady wanted to spend her last few coins on her free glasses. well there were other stories as well of people giving back there glasses because they felt someone else would benefit from them more. a simple comment on how pretty a pair of earrings were that a patient was wearing resulted in that person giving the earrings to one of our team, because they wanted to give something back to the people that were doing so much for her people. it breaks your heart to see what people have to survive with when we have so much. but you will not find happier people.
our partners the lions were absolutely incredible to work with. so much caring on the part of the members to want to help their people and to make our stay a memory we will always treasure. one example one night was, as we were about to leave the clinic the doors were locked to the clinic and we were not allowed to wander out. they made sure the whole team gathered and when the doors were finally opened for us a band was on top of a bus that started to play for us. well i don't have to say what a joy it was for us to have this happen. it rejuvinated us at the end of a long day and dancing broke out followed by the team mounting the bus and being paraded through town all the way back to our hotel. it was awesome. they truly lived up to their motto"we serve"

its amazing what a group of people for the most part that have never met before can accomplish as our team did. there were language barriers that had to be overcome between our international members, and our english speaking team. i was sitting alone one night away from the other team and i was just watching the team. i noticed the italian team members sitting at a table with some of the american team . there was no interpretor at the table, but the laughter that was coming from that table was incredible. you would never had known that this group could not really communicate verbally. it was amazing. the bonds that were formed will become life long friendships. most of the postings have been done by one person but i'm sure there will be other stories posted in future dates, by the other team members along with pictures from their personal memories of our adventure. and it was an adventure of a life time.
and one last time i ask that you contribute to onesight whether it be recycling glasses or small but they don't have to be small :-)cash contributions to help us help the world to see.
thankyou..Team Ecuador