Saturday 26 November 2011

Last clinic day

A perfect end to a perfect project.   Our last day of clinic in Nicaragua was amazing.   We arrived early in the morning, expecting to see absolute insanity.  The opposite was true.  Our security team, the Chinandega Firefighters had spent the night at Red Cross Headquarters (our clinic location) ensuring that order was kept.  The first patients started lining up at about 1:00am to ensure they would be seen.   By about 3:00am a substantial group had formed yet order was maintained throughout the night.  When our bus pulled in at about 8am, there were approximately 600 people lined up down one city block, around the corner down another block, around one more corner and starting down a third block.  It was a pretty impressive sight.

For those whom have never been on an international project I will give a brief description of what a patient would experience….

A patient would arrive at the clinic in the middle of the night.   They would stand in line for about 8 hours in eager anticipation of their first ever visit to an Optometrist.  At around 8:00am the majority of our team would head out in the crowd and start the registration process.  Every person would receive a form that would be used for entrance to the clinic.  On the form we would record the patients name, age, basic medical issues, any issues with vision and their occupation.   With this form they would then proceed to the Visual Acuities or V.A. station.   Here the patients ability to see near and far would be quantified.  This is the test you will recall form your Optometrists office.  The chart with the large letters on top diminishing to the smallest letters on the bottom.  There was a slight difference to this test in Nicaragua.  Due to the high illiteracy rate with many older people letters could not be used, so the test consisted of symbols that pointed up, down, left and right.   It was amazing to be able to quantify someones vision with a simple test and only a few words.

Next, the patient would enter the Red Cross HQ for further testing.  A quick test with an auto-refractor (AR) was used to determine the next step.  The AR is an instrument that can determine a persons prescription.  This is a very rough measurement, but is quickly zero in the focus of further visual testing.  After AR, patients would go to one of three stations for further examination to check the health of the eyes, to refine the patients prescription, and to be counselled on any visual issues they may have.  After the patient had the prescription in hand they would proceed to the dispensing area.  This is where the TWECS magic really can be seen.  The dispensing team would take the Doctors prescription and find the appropriate glasses out of the 10,000 pairs that were packed from Canada.   Once these glasses were placed on the faces of many visiting the clinic, a whole new world was revealed.  Most had never had glasses before.  Many had never seen further than their hand so needless to say the reactions from many were priceless.   They ranged from a smile, to patients breaking down in tears.   One little boy was actually frightened to see the real world.

From dispensing the patients would fill out an exit survey with the help of interpreters and be on their way home to enjoy their new life with vision.

This was a monumental trip for all those involved and I for one will be travelling with this group again.

I am also putting out a plea for help.  If you have an old pair of glasses, please donate them.  If you are looking for christmas gift ideas, make a donation to the amazing work that TWECS does in someones name.   What could be a better gift than changing the outcome of someones life?  That is not going to happen with a Starbucks gift card.  

If you have never been on a project before, please, please get involved.  Travel with the team.    Donate your glasses.   Help out at the TWECS glasses warehouse in Burnaby.  Make a monetary donation.  I have seen first hand that this group is making a dramatic impact on the globe we share and with your help it will continue for many years to come.

Say tuned for the final numbers of the 2011 Third World Eye Care Society's Nicaragua project.

-David

For more information check out www.twecs.ca

3 comments:

  1. David, thank you so much for keeping us informed. I have literally referred probably 50 people to the blog and the feedback has been great. The blog adds so much life to what we talk about. Any chance of getting more photos? The old expression of a thousand words is so true.

    Kathy's husband

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  2. This is a great opportunity for an optometrist to use his skills to help those in poorer countries who can't afford the simple treatments. I hope this starts to happen more around the world.

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  3. It is amazing the difference a qualified optometrist can make in the lives of people around the world. I am so impressed by your work and your experiences. I wish more people could see their way to doing work like yours.

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