Eyeglass Trip May 2016

It was a cooperative effort between the eyeglass group, the RSCH St. Marc team and The Apostolic Faith Church of Lagarenne that made our eyeglass clinic successful. It was held on May 5th to May 10th, 2016 in a church located at the base of the mountain at the dead end road of Lagarenne where the vehicles stop and where those going up to Gilbert start walking. Just getting to the church was a task because the road from St. Marc to the church is unpaved, rough and often muddy.

A total of 367 patients were tested. Most were given prescription glasses and Alcon eye drops, while some were given sunglasses.

Support from the Haitian RSCH team was excellent.

Wesner and Luckner arranged with Pastor Auril Louis Cenor to have the church available for the 5 days of the clinic. Together, the three of them enrolled our clients and scheduled them evenly throughout the days of the clinic. They also made sure that the necessary equipment was available: generator, back-up generator which we used when the first generator did not work, tables, chairs and even an electric fan for us Canadians who could not tolerate the heat.

After a little training, the Haitian team manned the first three stations of the clinic and allowed the Canadians to run the other stations. They also helped in translating and directing the patients around from station to station.

Our translators, Ezekiel and Manley, worked tirelessly throughout the entire clinic jumping around all stations as required. They explained to the clients how to look after their glasses, how bifocals work, and sometimes even had to tell a client that he or she has cataracts and there was little we can do to improve their sight.

Our driver, Luc, was punctual and with him driving we felt safe even when going up the muddy rocky unpaved roads. More importantly, it was a comfort knowing that Luc and Wesner were with us in certain precarious situations such as being stuck in the mud on Saturday or driving home late at night through St Marc. on Monday.

On Saturday, there was a boy with a growth in one of his eyes. Coincidentally, Dr. Bayard was there and offered to get the boy in to see a specialist.

What a successful trip!