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Clinic Blog: Mexico Clinic Blog

July 21, 2010

Mexico Clinic Team Enjoys Weekend Off

By rreinhart

We had a wonderful reward from our partners who took us to Alamos on Saturday and Sunday. A local guide gave us a walking tour of the city, which was established in the 1600’s. We learned that at one time Alamos was the capital of Sonora.

Some of the team went to the local shops and several groups hiked up to the top of the mountain in Alamos for a beautiful view of the surrounding areas.

Sunday we left Alamos and moved on to our second clinic location in Navojoa. 

We finished up the day with a very lively silent auction. Congrats to the team for raising $3,100 for OneSight. Monica did a wonderful job as the fundraising captain. Diego and Gary made a dynamic duo as the live auctioneers. (see picture)

Scott wanted to purchase a ring for his daughter in Alamos. Unfortunately, it was fairly expensive. He thought about it for a while but declined. To make matters worse he tried to purchase two necklaces. The amount was $1,000 dollars, not pesos. Again, rejection.  The clinic team decided to purchase the ring and Sergey presented it to him at the live auction. He was very happy and caught off guard at seeing the ring again. He hugged everyone and kicked the party off!

July 21, 2010

Mexico Clinic Day 4

By rreinhart

We originally had a goal of 500 for today, but were given a new goal of 1,500 when we arrived. 

Jenni had the privilege of working with Steve in chabellas today. It was an emotional experience for her. Can you believe an accountant can learn how to make a pair of glasses? She made the Mexico OneSight team very proud today!

Karen worked in IMS today and searched for a pair of glasses with –10/-11. Not only did she find an almost perfect match for the Rx but they were GUCCI frames! Maria who is 53 and has never worn glasses was very happy when Pierpaolo dispensed them to her. Due to technical difficulties we are not able to share the photo at this time.

What a great team we have! Not only did we meet our goal, but also we packed up the clinic very quickly. Gary clearly has lots of experience packing up IMS, because he was amazing!

The team was treated to a traditional Mexican dinner at a local restaurant. YUM!

July 21, 2010

Mexico Clinic Day 3

By rreinhart

Andreas dispensed glasses to a mother and daughter. The mother had a prescription of +12.5 and the daughter had a prescription of +7. We were able to find pairs for both of them (see picture) which caused much delight.

Nice Oakley frame glasses direct from Zurich were dispensed to a young woman, glasses were collected by Diego, and he had the chance to dispense them himself, the young receiver was so excited that she requested Diego to write some words in a piece of paper.

The President “Mayor” of Obregon, Manuel Barro Borgaro invited us to a barbecue at a local park. Mario Gonzalez was our chef and made us a fantastic dinner of carne asada and chili with all of the fixings. Some local tribesman also treated us to an authentic Indian tribal dance. 

July 20, 2010

Mexico Clinic Day 2

By rreinhart

Today we had an awesome day at clinic! We exceeded our goal of 1,000 people helped and had some great moments:

• Dr. Williams brought a special pair of glasses that belonged to his mother who recently passed away. He was able to share his story with the recipient and took pictures to send to his Dad. It was a truly an emotional experience for him.
• We dispensed our highest prescription so far. We had a 77 year-old recipient, Tomas who needed a +14.00 prescription. Karen searched all of our available stock and was able to find him a perfect match! Andreas was lucky enough to dispense the glasses to the grateful recipient.
• Theresa came across a +8.00 prescription for a woman who had never worn glasses before. She was so shy and scared to even look at us. Once the glasses were put on, you could see that look of amazement in her eyes. 
• Ludovica (an Italian team member), working with Rueben as translator, was able to fit a little boy with his first pair of glasses. It’s truly amazing to see the impact that a pair of glasses can make in a child’s life. We are all truly blessed.

We can not wait to see what tomorrow brings.

July 20, 2010

Mexico Clinic Team Still Hard at Work

By rreinhart

The Mexico Clinic team is still hard at work giving the gift of sight to thousands in need. Check back for updates as the team is currently experiencing technical difficulties with the blog.

July 15, 2010

Mexico Clinic Day 1

By rreinhart

Today we spent the morning learning the different stations in our clinic and the clinic set-up. Then we went to our respective areas for more in-depth training.

We were able to fit a two year old with a pair of chabellas. Imagine the impact we will have on his life!! In addition, Edith helped an older gentleman who was so excited to get a pair of glasses that he told her that he never wanted to take them off…even to sleep!

The translators here are awesome. They will stay with us the entire two weeks. They are so passionate about being here and helping us. In fact, one translator, Ana Sofia was brave enough to learn the auto-refractor. Check out her picture in the gallery below!

We wrapped our day up with our orientation and a team dinner. We are excited to see what the week will bring.

July 15, 2010

Arrival

By rreinhart

We made it! The CSC team traveled to Chicago, then on to Phoenix to meet up with the rest of the team. Then we took a short flight into Hermosillo, Mexico and ended our journey with a 4-hour bus ride to Obregon. Our awesome leadership team spent about 7 hours of their day on a bus just so they could be there to greet us. Thanks, Scott, Greg, Steven and Theresa. You rock!!

Quote of the day from Canadian Shauna “Wow, I’ve never seen a cactus before, that is one not in a box at Home Depot.” 

We have a truly global team. Our members come from all over Canada, the U.S., Italy, Germany and a Spaniard who lives in Switzerland. In addition, we have about 8 different languages represented. What a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world!

The key to success in a Global Clinic is to always be flexible! We found out that our hotel had changed, but the new one is very nice. Our partner, DIFF is fantastic. They have gone out of their way to accommodate up and make us feel welcome.

July 7, 2010

Let’s Get Started Team Mexico!

By rreinhart

Hello!
Well, if you're interested in virtual participation in our upcoming OneSight Clinic to Mexico, you've landed on the right blog! Our team of 32 volunteers and doctors from the U.S, Canada, Germany, Spain and Italy will spend two weeks just outside of Obregon providing complete eye exams and recycled glasses to thousands of people who could not otherwise afford to see the world clearly.

Each day, right here on this very page, we will be posting highlights from our vision care Clinic including stories of our recipients, the team experience and a little about Mexico itself. We land in Hermosillo on July 12th and will be posting messages and photographs through July 24th. Be sure to log on every day so you don't miss a minute of the excitement! And, if you’re interested, our team is also raising money to help fund our Clinic. Make your donation to our team today!

Here's a little background about OneSight and our Global Clinics: OneSight is a family of charitable programs dedicated to improving vision through outreach, research and education. Sponsored by Luxottica Group, OneSight programs have helped more than 7 million people over its 20-year history.

 

Each year, OneSight conducts two-week clinics in developing countries where our doctors and trained volunteers provide free eye exams and recycled eyewear to thousands of people in need. To date, we’ve run 175 clinics in 35 different developing countries. This year, we have planned 20 clinics in developing countries around the world. For a complete list of Clinic locations, visit www.onesight.org.