• Search:

Clinic Blog: South Africa 2 Clinic Blog

December 7, 2010

Mduku, 1527 People Helped

By rgregg

My little friend from Germany (Mythas) arrived at breakfast in his funky wig for crazy hat day today. He really brought it on home when we had the Bee Gee's on the stereo and he jumped out of the chair an did his best Saturday Night Fever impersonation! It had the whole clinic in stiches and helped make today the best day yet. Fantastic 2 days in the dark continent and a truly rewarding experience.  -Dayne Hogan, Cairns, Australia

Dispensing glasses to a small boy and I noticed his mother holding a hockey jacket.  The hockey team was the Toronto Maple Leafs, my hometown NHL team. So I'm out in the middle of nowhere and yet the world suddenly felt very small.  -Drew Smith, Tampa, Florida

FINALLY, I ate a traditional South Africa meal; Samp, Pap, Stewed Beef that made me think of home, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.  - Mpho Khoza

 

December 7, 2010

Story Time, Part 2

By rgregg

Today was a day of mixed emotions. I met a man today who had walked 20 kilometers with his wife and 2 little children just to come to our clinic. He explained in broken english how important he felt it was that he got his families eyes looked after and that he would have walked 100 kilometers to do that. He blessed us and thanked us for helping him and his family and we both shed a tear togethor. This wasn't the first time in this clinic that I have found myself crying with a complete stranger!!! I felt a little sad that in this day and age so many would have so little, but glad that we could play our part in positively improving the lives of those that see. Then on our way back to our lodge, I recieved a message from my wife and kids that said 'they loved me, missed me and were so proud of the work that I was doing'... and the tears once more!! Dang you OneSight... I am determined to get through at least one day without crying like a school-girl.  - Wayne Hogan, Cairns, Australia

Children at play, what a wonderful thing to see. It was coming to the end of the day, and a lady came in with her son to get glasses. He was shy and coy, but I could see a gleam in his eye, for when he looked through his glasses his little face came alive with the biggest grin! He recieved his glasses that he thought were just great. I then gave him a box of chalk and asked his mother if I could show him what we can do. So out on the side walk we went and collected a few other children on the way. I sat down on the footpath and started to draw as the children just stood there with their chalk in hand. A mother told them to draw, to help them understand what I was saying. They all squated down, dusted the dirt of the path, and started to copy my smiley face. The little boy I had brought outside copied the face, but instead of mimicing my stick body and legs, he drew full and rounded figured that seemed full of meaning and life. What made this special for me was not only the smiles and laughter I helped make possible, but what happened after. Another volunteer told me that they saw the boy later, pulling the sticks out of the box and putting them back in so tenderly that it touched my heart. This is what its about!? We are here to give the gift of sight, and the sight recieved was just so beautiful.  -Wendy Kratzmann, Bundaberg, Australia

December 7, 2010

Clinic Auction

By rgregg

Total Collected: $3722 !!

#1 Crystal OneSight Pilar, $350,  Wayne Hogan

#2 South Africa Oakley Sunglasses, $160, Wayne Hogan

#3 Swarovski Earring & Necklace Set, $150, Frank Baynhum

#4 OneSight Golf Cart Flag & One Par For Sight (in Mason, OH) Entry, Frank Baynhum

 

December 5, 2010

OneSight Italiano

By rgregg

Ciao,

Un veloce aggiornamento in Italiano dalla missione (ufficialmente clinica) in Sud Africa.

Ci troviamo adesso in una riserva naturale “Hulhluwe Imfolozi Park” circondati da leoni, elefanti giraffe ed altro. Il posto e’ davvero mozzafiato con delle colline di un verde brillante che non ti aspetteresti di trovare in Africa.

Oggi e’ domenica ed e’ il nostro giorno di riposo. La prima settimana e’ stata intensa ma direi impagabile. Abbiamo curato circa 3500 pazienti, alcuni con forti disabilita’ visive ai quali crediamo di aver in qualche modo migliorato l’esistenza.

Abbiamo regalato molti sorrisi specialmente con gli occhiali da sole che per la prima volta in questa clinica sono stati donati insieme a quelli da vista.

Da quello che sento dire ai miei compagni di avventura, questa e’ una clinica un po diversa. Stiamo puntando sulla qualita’ piuttosto che sulla quantita’. La clinica e’ rimasta in una scuola per due giorni alla fine dei quali abbiamo impacchettato tutto (apparentemente a tempo di record) per rimontare tutto in un’altra scuola il giorno successivo.

In questo modo evitiamo lunghi spostamenti a piedi per le persone del luogo. L’idea funziona anche se impacchettare tutto alla fine di giornate intense non e’ facile.

Domani si ricomincia e speriamo di poter curare piu persone possibili.

E’ tutto per il momento, continuate a visitare il blog per ricevere aggiornamenti.

Ciao e a presto.

Alessandro Lucanto & Onesight SA team

December 5, 2010

Week One Completed!

By rgregg

OneSight is here in South Africa to not only deliver eyewear but to help the world see through the delivery of love, passion, and commitment. We are here encouraging dreams, partnerships, and a healthy life style. Our people here are in trouble. The aids virus affects almost 1/2 of the population here. Your results back home are what ensures our ability to give to those who need it most... No Luxottica translates to no OneSight. 
 
What does your personal accountability to OneSight look like? Do you clearly see the link from the retail world to our OneSight world? Do you see OneWorld?
 
Is AVP just a superior lens, or is it the vehicle that brought 41 strangers together here to South Africa in representation of One Brand? Is See Now Pay Later a credit card account, or is it the scope that allows people to see clearly? When you are asking your patients about multiple needs are you selling, or exampling what OnePassion looks like? Are exams and sun options when they are the nutrients that allow OneSight to grow?
 
We are the brand that truly loves eyes! What you are doing back home is directly affecting our ability to give to those less fortunate. Your behaviors are creating meaningful experiences for our sisters and brothers around the world that need our help.
 
As a OneSight team member I would like to share our results. Our first week is over and we have served over 4,000 needy receipients! The team work I have experienced here is amazing! We have come together as strangers from around the globe with a common goal to serve the underserved.
 
OneWorld, OnePassion, OneSight, that is what stay focused looks like to us here in south Africa.
 
Sincerely your OneSight LensCrafters Brand Leader,
Lisa Martinez     
 

December 3, 2010

Mbazwana, App. 2000 People Helped

By rgregg

Spent the last couple of days in very remote, beautiful areas in the heart of Zulu nation. The people are wonderful, fun, proud but they live in what we would consider terrible conditions.  Hard to convey the experience properly, but if not life changing it is a true eye opener to the luxury in which we live and what we take for granted.  I have learned a few Zulu words to try and communicate. I wish I could understand what their saying to me, but I can read the emotion in their expressions. -Drew Smith, Tampa, Florida

I worked today at the end station of the clinic- where the patients receive their glasses. I went around the corner to take a break and found a Mkhulu (grandfather) scratching in his bag. He was pulling out his bible and was reading it for what might have been the first time in years. I realized then that OneSight gives more than the gift of sight, we give the ability to see religion, we give  the ability to see education, and we give a new life to our patients. - Taryn Ryan, Cape Town, South Africa.

The last two days we have spent our time at the Mbazwana School where we have seen over 2,000 people.  Yesterday was set- up and saw over 800 people, where I was so fortunate to be able to give out the glasses to so many.  To be able to see their faces light up when they put on their glasses, to jumping out of their seats to give me a hug or shake my hand not once but several times. The joy we bring to these people are priceless.  Today we must have seen twice as many people and  I was so fortunate to have given out two pair of glasses that I had bought over from Australia with me, from people from Bundaberg Qld.  It is so special to carry these gifts with me and be able to talk to these reciprocates of them.  These people are so gentle and so very great full for all that we are giving them and doing for them.  I had a little girl I saw yesterday and her name is Wendy, she came to find me again this morning just so she could give me a hug for the glasses she received yesterday.   I am the one that has been truly blessed being here giving this gift of sight. -  Wendy Kratzmann, Bundaberg Qld Australia.

I remember pulling up to our new site feeling ready to conquer  the world which was very different than a few days before, a little anxious and nervous about what I was about to experience. With this new found confidence, the team threw together the clinic  in literally a matter of minutes and we were rolling. I have never felt more connected to a like -minded group of people than reaching this new clinic destination. It begs the question of who is getting more out of this experience, the people we are trying to help, or us. It has been such a gift to perhaps be the only person that may ever take the time to educate these wonderful people about their eye health and their vision. I can’t wait to see what lays ahead of us…Dr. Mat Broschak, Kelowna, Canada

December 2, 2010

Story Time (with milk and cookies)

By rgregg

A beautiful lady came to dispense and we tried on her glasses. She was unable to see. After she nearly restarted the process, we had a completely different prescription for her to try. She put them on and started to cry! She was clearly overwhelmed by the difference in her new pair. She kept repeating 'God bless you! God bless you!'.  -Robyn Weinberg, Sydney, Australia

 

This would have to be one of the most memorable moments of my life. To have the opportunity to share this with so many people that have come togethor as one, is just awesome. I experienced so many moments yesterday I don't know where to start. One of the first dispenses was an elderly man that walked in with a cane and hobbled to a seat. As soon as I fitted his glasses his face lit up, he jumped up and gave me a hug, shook my hand and did a gig as he left. I think he forgot his cane! He was so excited he forgot he needed it!  -Wendy Kratzmann, Bundaberg Qld, Australia

 

Theresa says: Your cataracts are very bad, I am referring you to the hospital for surgery.

80yr Old Patient: I already went, and they told me I don't need surgery.

Theresa thinks: That's odd, I am surprised they wouldn't do surgery when your cataracts are so dense you only see 6/60 which is legally blind...

   after much deliberation on deciding on what glasses to prescribe...

Theresa says: When did you visit the hospital?

Patient Replys: 1988

- Theresa Jnguyenphamhh, Aselaide, Australia

December 1, 2010

The Zulu Culture

By rgregg

The OneSight crew is the most amazing group of people. You couldnt imagine a more selfless, energetic, and fun group of people to work with! The Zulu are actually not much different as a culture. When you ask them how they are, they say 'happy', and their outlook on life is wonderful. A 16 year old boy said, 'I am happy you are here, because it reminds me that we are one'.

As for their way of life, they are very fascinating:

- they live as a family in several different fenced in round homes, that are 1 or 2 bedrooms

- men flirt by asking a woman to cook for them, and cannot get married unless they pay 10-20 cows for their wife

- they cant afford to smoke, and they dont drink socially or even go out at night. Those who go out at night or drink are viewed as negatively

- they dress much more formal than we do in other countries! Women would be beat if they wore trousers, but they can go topless and it wouldnt matter. Their shoes are also always very clean, even thought they walk EVERYWHERE.

- few have vehicles, but those that do keep them very clean and it is considered tasteless to have a dirty car

- nobody is turned away from school, but the more you can pay the better level of education your child will get

- some women wear red clay all over their face to shield their skin from sunburn

 

As a whole, the people couldn't be any happier to have us here and welcome us with genuine gratefulness.

December 1, 2010

Dumbe, 1159 people helped

By rgregg

It is difficult to know where to start. Every crew member has SO many moments they wish they could share, and some moments that are also difficult to explain in words. We spent 2 days in Dumbe, South Africa which is known as the district with the most poverty, orphans, and HIV. Every patient we saw walked MILES in the heat in the hopes of getting free eye care by OneSight, and the chance to be seen by our partner Oprah's Angels. Each patient begins their visit with the health clinic, followed by:

1. Registration

2. Visual Acuity (eye charts)

3. Dialation

4, Auto Refraction (prescription reading)

5. Eye Health Check (by our eye doctors)

6. Consultation

7. Dispense (the moment where they get their readers or glasses)

The hard part to explain is the emotional attachment we feel when dispensing the glasses. The great thing about OneSight is that it isn't about seeing as many people as possible, but instead about truly connecting with each person who comes to us for help. As a Zulu said: "a tiny drop in the ocean still creates a ripple". Some of the people who got glasses will go home and spend hours admiring their gift.

(Pictures and videos are soon to come!)

December 1, 2010

Travel

By rgregg

Sawabona (hello in Zulu!)

Although we officially came togethor in Durban on the evening of Sunday the 28th, many of our journeys began much earlier. For Mat Broschak from Kelowna, Canada, the trip to Durban was the longest. He left snowy Kelowna on Friday the 26th, and spent 12hrs on 3 connecting fllights before meeting all of the North America team members in Washington D.C. From there all North Americans flew to Dakar, Senegal on a 7hr leg, followed by 9hrs to Johannesberg, South Africa. As a team, we flew to Durban on a 1hr flight, spent the night, and spent the next full day on a bus to Jozini, near the location of our first clinic.

FINALLY! We made it to our destination! Here are a few things we have already learned:

- taxi drivers, among all South Africas are extremely friendly

- 7 Rand = $1

- food that is the same, like sprite or french fries, actually tastes different because the ingredients arent the same

- Sunglass Hut dominates! We came across 3 on our trip (your blogger works for Sunglas Hut :> )

- they drive and walk on the left side of the road

- the average person makes $1400 American dollars a year

- your legs swell when you take long flights

- never over pack! (Kellie paid $150 for going 9lbs over)

- OneSight spoils us

- Holiday Inns are nicer here than at home (the one we stayed in was built especially for the Soccer World Cup in South Africa)

- they have shark nets in the indian ocean, that are checked every am by helicopter for breaks

- they have blueberry trees

- WHAT HAPPENS IN SA, STAYS IN SA

November 17, 2010

Get a Virtual Participation

By rgregg

Our team of volunteers and doctors from all over the world will spend two weeks just outside of Durban South Africa, 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 South Africa itself. We land in Durban on November 28th, and will be posting messages and photographs through December 10th. 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!

Click here to see a video from last years South Africa Clinic!