Clinic Day 3

Good Bye and Thank you **TEAM Nicaragua
Today I leave my team behind to travel home. It is the first time in 16 years of TWECS work that I have had to leave a project early .   Circumstances at home and business would not allow me to stay for the full project.  I left the team with mixed emotions and bittersweet feelings.  I was happy to be going home to Evan and Emma.  Everyday, I hear in their voice how much they miss us, and as 9 year olds, they don’t fully understand the work we do, they just know that Mommy and Daddy have to leave again, sometimes for 21 days sometimes for 10days, but it always feels like an eternity to them.
It was difficult to leave this team.  Many of them I met for the first time just 4 days ago.  The long 3 hour bus ride from Jiquilillo on their arrival, proved that this team of 27 were no longer strangers and it was wonderful to be with them and witness the camaraderie.  I was impressed by their drive, their enthusiasm and determination to work hard as a team. 
Thank you team Nicaragua for making the sacrifice to travel with TWECS and to join this project.  I know you will make a difference to thousands of Nicaraguan people simply by being there and by a  pair of eyeglasses.  Many of their faces and smiles will be etched in your hearts forever.  I wish I could be there to share the workload and the sweat with you.  I will especially miss triage with Brad whose one liners always relieved my aching feet. 
And of course I leave behind my better half, Derrick , the mastermind of TWECS.  See you soon Sweetie! I really enjoy the updates!  Keep them coming.
Gerry, you are one of a kind.  You have  wowed the team with your charm and you made a “Gerry Believer” out of me.  We simply could not have accomplished anything without all your efforts.  I look forward to working with you again for another TWECS project! Keep practicing those cha cha steps.
Take care,
Marina
**Together Everyone Achieves Miracles**

Well here I am again.  Trip number 3 with TWECS.  As usual a ling flight and bus ride to our destination of Chinandega!  A bus ride reminiscent of Vietnam, long and dark with a minor mishap along the way.  Arriving at our accomodations at 2:45 am.  Short sleep and off to see some sights, the kind we never see at home.  Children and families living in a refuse area where there is constant burning of refuse.  Unhealthy to say the least.  This is where we will set up clinic for thursday and friday.  The first day of clinic it all came back to me, the set up, the routine, the different stations and the gratitude of the children we were serving.  This third trip is not much different then my first two, great team, great camaraderie, and great rewards from the happy faces leaving clinic with their new glasses.  Today we saw 700 plus people and with 2 days to go it will be a record week!  Will I be back for a fourth tour of duty?  You bet.  ASAP.

- Rudy K.

First Timer TWECS Volunteer

I am so proud to be part of the TWECS team.   We have finished over half our clinic days and what a wonderful experience!  I love to see the team working so well together.  I love to see the patients getting glasses to improve their vision.  And I love being part of the whole process.   I am looking forward to our last two clinic days and I am confident this won't be my last TWECS trip.

- Dana B.





Is day 3 of clinic really over? I can’t believe we’ve surpassed the halfway point of the project already. Today was the definition of ‘organized chaos’ and it was also the first time on the mission (so far) that I shed a tear.
We’re more than 2 days and 1,200 patients in so, understandably, inventory in certain prescriptions is running low.
Trying to fit a female patient with +5.00 readers that looked like something Dame Edna would wear, was becoming quite upsetting (for all involved). I had managed to get them on her face without her seeing them (obviously) and they worked like a charm; they were exactly she needed! Unfortunately, as soon as she realized what they looked like, she could no longer see with them. We know what that means.
I totally get it, I totally understand that they look a smidge ridiculous but they are absolutely ideal and there’s nothing else that would work more perfectly for you. We have both come so far for you to receive what you need; please don’t refuse. If there was anything more I could do, I would. I promise.
Thankfully, she left with the glasses.
Just a couple of minutes pass, I see one or two more patients and I then approach another female with a similarly high prescription. I know what it is we have available for her and I get a bit of a sinking feeling.
I go fish her another pair of Dame Edna’s and place them on her face (before she had a chance to see them) and… PERFECTO! They work! Muy bien!
My patient pulls the glasses from her face to take a look and clutches them to herself. “Gracias! Gracias!”  She is so happy. She’s able to read again. She is absolutely thrilled, she doesn’t care how they look and the smile on her face brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. I am so glad that we both came all this way, for this moment. Bellisimo. 
Georgina
(Volunteer)