May 18, 2012

Telling OneSight stories

By lisab

 

 At the end of clinic today it was all about celebrating a great first week and telling OneSight stories, these are a few of those stories

 

In dispense today Sandro and Brenda were able to use their creativity and resourcefulness to help a 3 year old little boy named Musa see the beautiful country of The Gambia. He was a very small for 3 so small that the temples on the chabella frame were much too long for him. Our tool selection here at clinic is very minimal and we do not have cutters to trim and make temples shorter,  but they were determined to make it work for Musa. They had to 'McGyver' it as Sandro puts it and he walked away from today's experience with a CUSTOM FIT and a cute smile.

 

Bruce told us a story about a 18 year old boy named Babuku that expressed his love for all the team members from OneSight today for helping him and his fellow Gambians see better. He has a broken foot and all the hospital was able to do for him was give him a bandage. This is making him very upset because he loves to play football(soccer) and now understands that he will not be able to play professional football but he will be able to see better at school and now focus on doing better in school and getting into the university. 

 

Nehal as well as many other girls on our team have had marriage proposals while at the clinic site. During clinic today Dr. Nehal helped a 4 yr old little boy named Debasse whos vision was so bad that all he could see was the difference between light and dark. His mother explained that anytime someone turns on a light or turns off a light he knows but that is as far as his ability to see goes. He is a very smart boy and his english for a 4 yr old is really good.  His mother carried him around from station to station and into his exam as well. His vision was so poor that it is not fully correctable. He was so sweet that she wanted to try to find a way for him to have some increase in quality of sight and in life. He also was very clear that he wanted 'specs' which is what he kept saying over and over to her. She was using the trial lenses and when she placed the +2.00 power lenses in front of his eyes he said "TUOBOB" which is what the children here in The Gambia call white people. This told Dr. Nehal that he in fact was able to see more than just if there were lights on or off She wrote a prescription and went with him to dispense to select the glasses. They were able to make chabellas for him and when he put on his glasses and looked at Dr Nehal he hugged her then told her he would like to marry her. This is why we do this! To create memories for us and for them.

 

Tonight was a night of 'home'coming and celebration. We finished two great weeks of clinic. One in Brikama and another in Basse. We have been conducting two clinics this first week here in The Gambia. We have a team of five who have been working very hard in Basse helping people see as well. Basse is about 4 hours away on the Gambian River. They have not had the working conditions or living conditions that most of the team has had the joy of experiencing at the Kairaba Hotel. We are so pleased to welcome them and look forward to working along side them as well as our students next week. We will all be working very hard to teach and train them so that they may continue to help the people of The Gambia see. 

 

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3 Comments

  1. Jamie Fenton says:

    Hi Lisa,

    Wonderful job on the blog. Congrats, and once again, keep up the wonderful work you are doing! It’s a very tough task you do, and I don’t envy you a little bit so Well Done!!

    Do you know why White People in the Gambia are called Tuobob?

    If not, drop me a line and I will tell you..! :o)

    Keep safe my friend,

    Jamie

    Posted on Mon May 21, 2012 6:00 am EST

  2. lisab says:

    Jamie..tuobob was the amount that white people used to pay for slaves :-(

    Posted on Mon May 21, 2012 1:39 pm EST

  3. Jamie says:

    Oooh - not sure about that. I was told by locals when I did a study there in 1996 that essentially it comes from the time when they were a British colony, and all the local kids would chase after the white people asking for “two bob”...

    I’d be interested to find out which version is actually true!

    Keep up the great work - loving the latest anecdotes!

    Posted on Tue May 22, 2012 5:22 am EST

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