Clinic Blog: 2011 China Clinic Blog
May 14, 2011
Clinic Day 4 - Friday - Meet Alessandra, Mona and Paul
By knovak
Today is our last day with our Luxottica China Week 1 Volunteers. They have been an amazing crew of Doctors, Opticians and Service Support from Lenscrafters China. The volunteers have been one of the favorite aspects of this clinic and it is sad to say goodbye so soon! It is an honor to see the truly global support of OneSight. In the Luxottica TriStar facility, we are reminded of the 4 Characteristics – passionate, entrepreneurial, imaginative, and simple and fast. They are posted throughout the factory but even without the postings, it is apparent that the characteristics ring true no matter where you are within the Luxottica family.
We saw 873 total patients today and are manufacturing 336 prescription glasses. While the need may not be the greatest, the education on preventative eyecare, and the value of wearing glasses when needed is evident. There are many employees that do not realize what they are missing by not having clear vision. We may not be able to see the excitement when their new glasses arrive at TriStar in a few days, but knowing that we are changing people’s lives every day still makes the work very worth the while.
There are a few more team members that would like to share some of their OneSight experiences with you!
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China is in many ways what I expected it to be and in other ways different. As depicted in America, it is a developing country, but for sure FAR richer than many modern developing countries. The buildings and squares in big cities – such as Dongguan and Shenzhen – are as modern and majestic as the ones one would tend to associate with Beijing and the big national parades we often see on TV. What remains of the old Imperial China in these cities is only the replicas found in the Walt Disney like entertainment parks such as Splendid City. As far as communism, the symbols, spirit and ideals of the party are still everywhere and an important part of people’s daily lives – personal and professional. But the people themselves and the culture of China are much more diverse, vibrant and complex than any of these factors put together – a mix of the old and the new, of tradition and modernity. It may end up being a love story in my life book, but it will for sure be a complicated one.
- Alessandra Bufano, Luxottica Wholesale, New York, NY
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Mona
The Tristar workers live in dorms above the factory. Mostly young girls, about 20 years old. They come from very far away to work here. At work they wear a uniform, after work they like to dress up in pretty dresses and high heel shoes. Most of them are afraid that they will need glasses and they think that they will not look good in them. They are lucky because they are getting beautiful new glasses donated by Motion Global and new lenses supplied by Essilor. They look good in the frames and we work hard to convince them that they will see much better. As the days go by more and more are happy now to get glasses.
We are successful!
China is a beautiful country. The people are warm and at a smile from us, we get one back. Some of them have learned to say hello and thank-you and we also try to reply back in Chinese. Lucky for us we have some wonderful interpreters who speak our language very well.
I would like to thank everyone who donated to this cause.
Hello to my friends at home, my husband Ron and son Michael and to my fellow volunteer Eva.
Mona Davis, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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Our Dongguan Clinic is taking place in the heart of the “Special Economic Zone” along the Pearl River Delta in Southeast China. This is a global center of production for a vast variety of goods. The atmosphere is charged with energy and one feels a headlong momentum toward the future. We hope the young people we are seeing here will go on to help make it a better one. We visited the Luxottica Tri-Star eyewear production factories where our patients make up to 100,000 frames every day. This was a rare opportunity of special interest to those of us who have been working with this product in our jobs for many years. Understanding their living and working conditions has also helped connect us to our patients. The great support we have had from our local organizers and volunteers has been essential to making this clinic run smoothly. HEN HAO DE!
- Paul Craven - Lenscrafters - Biddeford,Maine
Friday Team
2 Comments
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Greta says:
Ciao team China!
Team Mexico is leaving in one week, but meanwhile we follow your clinic succeses on line. i went to China a few eyars ago on vacation, and I can only imagine what you are experiencing!keep up the good work!
Alessandra (my cubicle neighbour): can’t wait to hear all your stories when you are back!
:)
GretaPosted on Sun May 15, 2011 11:52 am EST
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Alessandra says:
Ciao Greta, once we are both back, we will have to plan a lot of espresso breaks to catch up with each other! In Bocca al lupo in Messico!!! Bacioni
Posted on Mon May 16, 2011 8:01 pm EST