January 30, 2012

First Day at Clinic…an “eye opening” experience!

By bkitchens

January 30th, 2012-

 

Well, it begins.  Houston 2012 OneSight Mission…something we have all been waiting for and something we are proud to support.  Putting glasses on kids and watching their faces light up when they can see the leaves on the trees outside or the intricacy of a butterfly’s wing…what could be better?

            Since today was our first day, the hustle and bustle, confusion, and excitement left its mark on all of us…everywhere you went you saw half guzzled cans of Mountain Dew and Jason’s Deli lunch boxes strewn all over (huge thank you to our hospitality team by the way).  The remnants of the ten-minute breaks of everyone involved…all of who were hard pressed to leave their stations to simply grab a sandwich or a bottle of water.  The noise of laughter and squeaky tennis shoes, the anxious looks on the eyes of the children coming from the tonometry station (the “air puff” test), and the sound of the edging machines cutting lenses were something we all experienced at some point today.  It was quite eye opening; especially for those who are on their first clinic.  There were a few moments of tears (at least from me), and countless moments of clarity for many of the team members.  Let me share the one that stood out to me the most, and the other members of the clinic will share their personal “ah-ha” moments as the two weeks progress.

            I was working in the auto refractory lab today.  My experience with Luxottica has been Sunglass Hut, so anything having to do with optics or lenses was foreign to me, but I was really excited to learn a new skill with the refractory machines.  About an hour after the first bus of kids arrived, a little girl walked into our room.  A very small girl…she was only about three feet high.  Her name was Joule.  To be auto refracted, it is very important to keep still, but since little Joule had to teeter on her knees in a chair, Aleesia was having a very difficult time running the test.  So to make it easy on all involved, I came around, grabbed Joule, and placed her on my lap while my hands kept her head from bobbing too much.  It still took a second to get the test correct, but she kept so still and was so at peace letting me hold her that it touched my heart.  When we were finished we found her prescription to be this: R: –6.12, -0.25    L: -8.75, -0.75.  No wonder she had a hard time not moving her head…the little house you are supposed to see in the viewer was no more than a blob to her!!! Knowing that this little girl was walking away from our clinic with the tools to truly “see” her world made me realize how much I take for granted my own 20/20 vision.   GOOSEBUMPS!!! 

            I know today was supposed to be a blog simply stating what OneSight is doing for children and adults all over the world…however I could not NOT share this story with you.  Stay tuned to the Houston 2012 blog to hear other amazing stories from other team members and myself over the next two weeks!!

 

P.S- pictures to come…must find USB cord first!!!

2 Comments

  1. Uncopayendode says:

    Lofty bye, genial friend :)

    Posted on Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:07 am EST

  2. Keedevanutvap says:

    Lofty bye, sweet chum :)

    Posted on Thu May 3, 2012 1:52 pm EST

Post a Comment

Name:

Email:

Please enter the word you see in the image below:


Post Comment