TWECS PERU 2017

That moment in my day

Today we wrapped our 4th day of clinic which is our last day with our hosts in Jicamarca. It was a bittersweet day, I'm excited to move to a new clinic location to help more people, but sad to leave the familiarity of the town and the local volunteers who tirelessly helped us run our clinics everyday and most importantly the school, who graciously allowed us to work out of their facilities with its 600 wonderful children who kept us smiling during our morning set up, evening take down and our short breaks throughout the long clinic days. Their excitement for us being there made my all my anxiousness melt away.

Peru is my first mission trip. I came here with mixed emotions of both nervousness and excitement. I worried about where I would fit in with a group of 16 strangers and if my optometric skills were up to par with my fellow optometrists.

Our first day in Lima washed aways all of those feelings. The group is so warm and welcoming. It's such a beautiful thing to hear the various reasons why 17 people all of all ages from completely different walks of life came together in Peru to help serve these communities. My fellow optometrists, all TWECS veterans, have been so supportive by teaching me the skills needed to navigate the busy clinic setting without many of the high tech machines I have become accustomed to in my own office.

During my short time here, I've found the most rewarding part of my day is towards the end of my patient interaction. When I get the privilege of placing a trial frame with the patients new prescription on their faces. Seeing their faces light up, their wide smiles and the joy of them being able to see clearly without the burden of the cost of glasses. That moment in my day makes all the heat, tiredness and hunger wash away. Those few seconds, followed by the hugs and gratitude that follow are what I'm looking forward to the most for the rest of the week.

By Dr. Kiran Janda

Our JULY 4TH celebration...

Today we were in San Juan de Lurigancho at the public elementary school. We were there to serve the families of yesterday’s students. We saw over 600 people from the community. For the second day in a row we had the help of St. Thomas More Students and staff. They were a joy to work with, full of energy and commitment a great help for the TWECS doctors. Today was long and hard, up at 6:45 am and back to the hotel after 8 pm. Tomorrow will be our last day up on the slopes of the Andes foothills.

Quechuan mother and child

Busy in Visual Acuities under the Andean sun

Justin holds the baby so Mom can concentrate

An elder is very happy with his new reading glasses dispensed by STMC students

Crowd control.....always important

Stacy explaining the tumbling E's for Visual Acuities

Our youngest team member, Zoe always has a smile for everyone

Ahren working hard on his Spanish

Dr. Kiran with some of the students enjoying a selfie shot

Kiran, David, Delaney and friends

This little 5 year old girl could not stop jumping around and reading everything in our dispensary when we put on her new glasses! It was a joy to see her

TWECS projects can really work up your appetite....

Lots of shoving, crying, pushing and whining...but it was all GREAT!

Our second day of clinic was held at a public elementary school, where we met 600 energetic kids from 2- 12 years old. Thank God we had the help of St. Thomas More Students down here in San Juan de Lurigancho to entertain the kids and help the TWECS doctors.

There were times when the noise was so loud that we could not even hear ourselves speak.

Although it was a challenging day with very few translators and lots of tired and hungry toddlers, we saw some miracles that made everything worthwhile.

The joy of sharing these special moments with people whose heart is there to serve is an experience that cannot be described in any other way but magical.

To see the joy of a mother’s face when told that her child has perfect vision and healthy eyes is indescribable. Our team was impressed by the kindness the eagerness and the work ethic of the St. Thomas More students and teachers. It was truly a pleasure to have them work with our team.

Sharing an incredible experience with my daughter

I am honoured to be part of TWECS Peru and even more excited to share it with my daughter, Zoe. This is my third project with TWECS but I am still quite nervous about doing this work. There are many factors to consider: This a foreign country and we don’t speak Spanish. Food and water can be sources of serious sickness, of which we cannot afford to absent from clinic days. The optometric work is back to the basics, no more relying on automated machines and cameras to verify our diagnoses. Team dynamics can be an issue and I really only knew a few volunteers from past teams. Zoe is new to this and I didn’t know how she would handle the long hard days of constant but fun work.

And all those worries about the first day of clinic disappeared the moment we exited the bus and were greeted with hugs from the host family. It was a fabulous start to our day, the project and the best welcome one could ask for. We are consistently picking up the language but this is the greatest challenge for me. I believe communication to be so integral to my job that when it is affected, my whole flow is disrupted. Fortunately our translators are key members of the TWECS team and we could’t do it without them. And speaking of the TWECS team, it is amazing to see us gel as our own little family in a very short amount of time. I am in awe of the talents and abilities of each and everyone of the volunteers and I learn immensely from all of them.

Our clinic was set in the home of local family. We were treated to delicious homemade lunch served to us on our much needed break. The family and the patrons were so very gracious and appreciative of us being there that you can’t help but feel we are meant to be there. The feeling is quite overwhelming and is the reason why I do these missions and why there will be many more in my future.

For the optometric work I was astounded by the amounts of astigmatism found in a substantial amount of people. Mostly with the rule astigmatism and often in the 4-8 diopter range. Usually most prescriptions are about the same in each eye but today we found a number of strange ones with plano (no prescription) in the right eye and very high amounts of astigmatism in the left. This is highly unusual. I am so intrigued by the results that I am compelled to review the data and see if the trend continues at the other sites we will visit in the coming days. Who knows, maybe an article for an optometric journal can be written…

And finally my daughter, Zoe. She is a grade nine student who is kind and caring and enthusiastic. Sounds like a perfect match for a TWECS volunteer. I felt like she had all the qualities she needed to fit in but I cannot say enough about how she shone today. She is the youngest on our team and she took up the challenge to do the same work as we all do. She helped in any and all ways that she could. Other members complimented her on her extraordinary way she has with children. She worked hard for the whole day with no complaints and when her job was done, she assisted others with their jobs. She is driven, compassionate and outgoing and I am very privileged to be her mother. I am so excited to be able to witness her growth over the next 8 days of clinic and to be able to celebrate with her when we travel to Cusco and Manchu Picchu.

Thank you to all my friends and family that have supported us in this adventure. Without you, work like this would not happen. And a HUGE shout out to Marina and Derrick, all the volunteers at the warehouse and on all the trips. Your work is valuable and important and doesn’t go unnoticed.

With much love and gratitude,
Dana

First Day of Clinic in Jicamarca

Jicamarca is on the side of the foot hills of the Andes that leads to the valley of Lima, no it has no lush green acreage extending down into the valley, rather it looks like a moon scape where not even a cactus could grow, because water in Jicamarca is non existent.

People who live here must carry all their house hold needs and food by foot up steep slopes to the squatter house. There is over 100,000 people living on the dusty rubbled mountainside.

This was the site of our first clinic day. It is an hour and half drive from our hostal.

Station 2 Visual Acuities on the side of our bus

Station 1 Registration

Station 6 Dispensing

Just a couple of our patients....everyone was so gracious

Dyana a 5 year old sweetheart who asked for "Pink glasses please" and fortunately we found one in her prescription.

WE'RE HERE! AND WE LOVE LIMA

The team arrived safely after 24 hours of flying. We were so pleased to arrive at customs and pass through without any problems or hassles. Everything regardless of the amount of preparation comes down to the mercy of the customs agent. Fortunately, our months of preparation with the Ministry of Health and with our hosts, Fe Y Alegria and Edmund Rice Christian Brothers paid off.

A Welcome "Drink" for each team member compliments of David as we exit customs

Just four hours after check in we were up and out on the bus for a quick tour of "must sees" in Lima. What a beautiful city Lima is with so much history and culture.