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I had wanted to go on an eyecare mission ever since I had heard of the Third World Eyecare Society, which was probably about my second year working in optometry. Unfortunately, time and money was always an issue. However, I decided that against all odds, 2007 was going to be the year I made this trip a priority; and it was by far the best decision I have ever made.
The prospect of travelling to a foreign country with 22 people I barely knew was mildly terrifying for me, but I quickly learned that I was accompanied by an amazing team that gelled very quickly. We had five optometrists and a vast array of optometric staff, optical reps, and others from outside the industry that wanted to donate their time. I knew we had a special group right from the beginning. When we encountered our first obstacle - getting the glasses through customs - every single person stood solidly behind our purpose and vowed to do whatever was necessary to get our mission back on course. Of course, nothing would have happened without the fierce determination and strength of our fearless leader, Dr. Marina Roma-March! Her efforts throughout the trip were nothing short of inspiring.
Clinic was hard, much harder than any work I had done at home. It was an interesting mix of exhaustion, relief, frustration, joy, and sometimes out and out confusion! Trying to shuffle through somewhere between 300 to 500 patients a day in an orderly, expedited fashion proved to be no easy task. Even more difficult was trying to find glasses that matched some of the incredible prescriptions we saw! However, the payoff came when you saw the smiles, the tears, the gratitude of the patients. It was amazing that something so readily available to us was such a precious commodity to these people, and it felt good to be able to provide that for them. Even when I was dead on my feet, one smile from a child seeing clearly for the first time would give me the pick up to keep on going down the seemingly endless line of people eagerly awaiting their glasses.
I was also privileged enough to get a glimpse into the life of a culture I had little to no previous knowledge of. We saw people from all parts of the societal spectrum, and it is amazing how you can learn to communicate with very few words! I hope my numbers are correct, but I believe by the end of clinic we had seen about 4,000 people and dispensed over 6,000 pairs of glasses, which is phenomenal.
Being provided the opportunity to work with such an incredible group of people, and to give of myself to those in great need are experiences that are forever etched upon my heart and memory. I feel blessed to have been a part of this, and I look forward to working with TWECS for many years in the future.
Nina M. Miller
Canadian Certified Optometric Assistant
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