November 17, 2011

The End of the Beginning

By dwilliams

A typical patient will make it through many stops during their time at a OneSight Clinic. From registration to visual acuity, dilation to auto refraction, ocular health to prescription writing, their final stop is at the dispensing table. And while the clinic team has made connections to the many patients passing through during this journey, their last contact with us is generally at the dispensing table. It is our last chance to make sure we have selected the correct glasses for them and instructed them how to use them properly. If we fail at that, we can't guarantee that their experience has been life changing. Of course, there are many obstacles to ensuring our patients can see, the most difficult being the language barrier. Even with this obstacle, the humanity inside of all of us is able to still reach out to the person we are dispensing to.

An amazing example of the connection made during dispensing comes today from Cindy Borges, Regional Manager for Sunglass Hut in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cindy was able to dispense Konapreea's glasses to her today. Konapreea lives in Priparli, and, at 65 years old, has been without glasses for about 15 years. She has a very high prescription, and, without her glasses, she was not able to continue her job as a seamstress. Thankfully, our team was able to find a good pair of glasses for Konapreea. When she first approached the dispensing table, she was very subdued and shy. Cindy immediately beamed her signature smile at Konapreea and greeting her in the typical Hindi greeting “Namaste!” Konapreea opened up like a flower, beaming back at Cindy. When Cindy put Konapreea's glasses on her, it was if her world went from black and white to color. Cindy showed her how to use the bifocal lenses that would work for both her sewing and for distance. Konapreea was so thankful to have her vision back she dropped to the ground and starting touching Cindy's legs and feet. We found out later that Konapreea was actually blessing Cindy for the help she had given her. What an amazing experience!

At the dispensing table, we are truly able to see the change that happens in our patients' lives when they are able to have their vision restored. The amazing part is the change they also make in our lives for allowing us to serve them. We are truly blessed. We were able to see 1,526 patients today in Priparli. Tomorrow marks the final day of our India clinic, and we are going in with a goal to finish our two weeks here at 10,000 patients total! It should be an exciting day, so check back for more stories!

2 Comments

  1. Nissa Marks says:

    Three cheers for the India Clinic Team!!
    Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

    Thank you for continuing the tradition of awesomeness that is OneSight. :)

    Shout out to Monafeitha: Have a Kingfisher for me before you head back stateside!! We’ll have to make a trip back to Onion Creek to talk about your trip once you’ve settled back in at home.

    Posted on Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:19 am EST

  2. GIAN LUCA says:

    Si torna a casa…dopo aver lasciato un impronta in un angolo di questo mondo che ha sempre bisogno…per noi la felicità di rivedervi, per voi il dispiacere di aver lasciato un pezzettino del vostro cuore in India a presto.

    LUCA

    Posted on Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:40 am EST

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