• Search:

Clinic Blog: 2011 China Clinic Blog

May 20, 2011

Friday Farewells

By knovak

A message from Bruno

Last couple of hours...

So, here we are... just a few more hours left in this fantastic country. The thought of leaving is very emotional, I am happy to be going home, but at the same time very sad to be going.

A very difficult emotion to try and comprehend.

The opportunity that OneSight has offered to us is truly amazing. We are given the chance to touch and impact a community positively, by providing the gift of sight, but what really happens is that the community reaches out and touches us.

Through this contact we are all confronted with our own preconceptions and ideas. And after two weeks of this loving embrace, we come out a better person, and it is us who are given the gift of sight, the ability to see through someone else's eyes, and comprehend the splendor that is China.

All the beautiful people we have met here has touched my life in some small way, and some left a big mark on my life.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for taking a bunch of strangers and showing us such great hospitality, and personally I know that because of you China will always have a very special place in my heart. I wish the distance between NZ and China was smaller, and easier to travel. One day, hopefully, I will be able to repay your hospitality in turn by hosting you in the place I call home, Auckland NZ.

Until that day, may the sun shine on you always

God Bless

Bruno

May 19, 2011

Ciao from Italian team members

By knovak

Nihao a tutti i colleghi italiani! Abbiamo avuto la fantastica opportunita' di condividere 2 settimane con i nostri colleghi cinesi, in tristar, lo stabilimento luxottica più' grande (6300 persone in continua crescita). Siamo a più' di 20 ore di volo dall'italia, dall'altra parte del mondo, eppure qui abbiamo trovato la stessa passione ed energia di casa. La cina e' davvero un mondo dai mille colori e sfaccettature.. L'unico modo per conoscere e apprezzare davvero questa millenaria cultura e' quello di passare di qui.. Oramai noi siamo giunti alla fine di questa missione, torniamo con la valigia piena di souvenir, il cuore pieno di ricordi e la speranza di tornare presto in questo fantastico paese. Xie xie cina e soprattutto grazie onesight per averci dato l'occasione di poter vivere questa esperienza indimenticabile. Alla prossima! Il team italiano: laura, orietta, andrea.

May 18, 2011

Wednesday Clinic and a Hello from Rob

By knovak

Greetings from China,

The day is Wednesday, as we prepare for today’s clinic the team members are starting to feel the bitter sweet feeling of the clinic winding down.  The time is near to go home and see the loved ones we are missing, but we will certainly miss the friends we have connected with here in China.

The Volunteers, from a nearby college have been priceless in helping us translate with the patients. They all had to fill out an application and interview to be able to volunteer and they were handpicked to help us. They have not only been instrumental in helping us translate but also teaching us some key phrases like “how are you” (Ni hao ma) and “I am fine” (wo hen hao).

Mandy is one volunteer which definitely excelled in teaching us some Mandarin Chinese. She is a junior in college, studying business, but loves to teach. She has taught Kindergarten children to speak Mandarin which explains why she can teach me so well.  My favorite phrases are “wo ai pi jiu” (I love beer) and Ni kai wan xiao de ba (are you kidding me?).

I am looking forward to returning home to see my family, but will surely miss the friends I have made on this Clinic.

Thank you to my family for sharing me with the people of China.

Rob  

May 17, 2011

Free Day in Guangzhou

By knovak

For those of us that have some Yuan left over from last night’s OneSight auction, today is our shopping day in China. We will travel by bus to Beijing Road in Guangzhou where one can find everything from international chain stores to local street vendors. Today lunch is on our own so many of us hope to sample authentic Chinese street fare. We are all looking forward to exploring the stores and mingling with the local community, hoping to find souvenirs for our loved ones back home and gifts of appreciation for our incredible volunteers.      

May 17, 2011

OneSight Auction Night

By knovak

A special update from our China 2011 Fund Raising Captains:

Team Red Rabbit China 2011 held its silent auction – a clinic tradition - on Sunday night. Despite a full day of clinic, team members were ready to outbid each other while raising funds for the organization in which we all truly believe and want to support as much as possible. Objects for the auction included all kinds of interesting items brought by team members from all over the world. Items bid on ranged from an Australian boomerang to a Brazilian football; from French champagne to Italian cheese; from Swedish royal cufflinks to Canadian Vancouver Olympic mittens; from Chinese porcelain pens to hand made Hungarian table clothes. A special table with OneSight items was particularly hot. Laid on it was a Onesight flag signed by all team members, OneSight frames and OneSight tee-shirts donated by our partner Tristar.

The competition was fierce! Laura and Orietta fought it out in a chase across the room over the bidding sheet for the last Chinese ceramic pen. John and Rob kept outbidding each other over the special edition Fuel Cell frame with the OneSight logo laser etched on the lens.

Certain items were reserved for a live auction. One of these items was a scroll which Jo had specially made on our visit to Spendid China. In hand painted Chinese characters, it read “OneSight, One World”. The second item specially reserved for the auction was a box of cigars from the Dominican Republic. The other two items were an OneSight China globe and a bottle of Chinese Cabernet. Once again, the bidding was very competitive. Karin from Seattle brought home the Globe; the scroll will now hang proudly in Emile’s Cincinnati office; the cigars were already enjoyed and shared on China’s largest golf course on our day off by the avid golfers on the team (Steve T., David, Doug and Mike); John was the proud winner of this “vintage” wine. 

On its own the live auction brought in $ 1,100 in proceeds. The total proceeds for the night were $ 4,393!      

I, Team Fund Raising Captain, and Dusty, my Co-captain, right hand and right brain, are ecstatic about how well the night went. We are very much looking forward doing this all over again. It was great fun for a good cause. The Red Rabbit Team really made us proud. We could not have done it without the support of each and every one of you. Thank you Team!!! You have been amazing!!!

May 15, 2011

Sunday - Clinic Day Five

By knovak

We start early today in anticipation of our largest day of patients. We are also excited about returning to our hotel tonight for our OneSight Auction. With such an international team there is sure to be a great selection of interesting items to bid on.

Much of the team will travel to Guangzhou tomorrow to see the Canton Tower and do some shopping on Beijing Road. In preparation for our trip, the college volunteers have been teaching us some Chinese. Our favorites right now are:

“Where is the toilet?” – ce suo zai na li?

“How much?” – Duo shao qian?

Check back with us soon to hear about the success of our silent auction.

May 14, 2011

Saturday - Fun in Shenzhen

By knovak

Today is one of the two days “off” we will have while in China. Luxottica TriStar has arranged to take the team to the Lotus Mountain Park and then to the Splendid China and Chinese Folk Culture Village. We hiked up 532 m to the top of Lotus Mountain Park where we could look out over Shenzhen, the city that is now the third busiest container port in China. After the hike we were treated to an incredible brunch at the 5 star Grand Mercure Hotel and then made our way to Splendid China. There we experienced folk art and dances from several nationalities represented throughout China and were amazed by the miniature replicas of some of the most beautiful and famous places around the world.

After returning to the hotel, several team members dined at a traditional Hunan style Chinese restaurant while others visited the Hong Kong mega store Park and Shop to buy treats for tomorrow’s clinic. Both groups returned early in preparation for the clinic tomorrow. We anticipate Sunday to be our busiest day and hope to see over 1400 patients.      

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!

***

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

***

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

***

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

May 13, 2011

Neehow from JoJo

By knovak

I feel so honored to be able to be a part of OneSight China Clinic 2011. Incredible frendships have been forged here already. The Clinic is an exciting beehive of work where all the components have come together so seamlessly to provide the gift of sight to the patients here. So far we have helped 2300 people with opthalmic or sun. Hats off to all of our incredible volunteers who work tirelessly right beside us to help provide the care. We had an incredible team of Lux employees from right here in China join us this week. They were and incredible asset and a wealth of info! Thanks soo much Team China we will miss you as you return home this week.

May 12, 2011

Clinic Day Three - Meet Dr. Jun, Stephanie and Francoise

By knovak

Clinic Day Three

Whew! What a fantastic day! We saw 887 TriStar employees today and are providing 308 of them with brand new prescription glasses thanks to our partnership with Essilor and Global Motion!

We would like to start introducing our amazing clinic team and share some stories that have brought us all together on this incredible experience.

 

Dr. Jun Fu has travelled a long way from his wife and son in Troy, Michigan to serve as both a doctor and translator for this China clinic. Dr. Jun has worked for Lenscrafters for 4 years and has previously participated in clinics in Detroit and Mexico. Dr. Jun loves to tell the story of a boy in Mexico, younger than 2 years of age, that came to the clinic with congenital cataracts on both eyes, causing blindness.  The Mexico team worked together to find a doctor in the U.S. who was willing to perform surgery for free and the local government aided in speeding up the visa application. With the help of OneSight, the boy and his family would travel to the U.S. so he could receive surgery and have vision for the rest of his life.

*****

NeeHow (Hello) Winnipeg!

We have seen over 1400 Luxottica TriStar employees so far. The majority of the associates are under the age of 24 so most of the RX’s are fairly mild. The first day I had a woman come through my station at auto-refracting that was R: -14.00, L: -4.00! I have no idea how she has managed to work with such poor vision. I’m very happy to know that her life will become easier with glasses that OneSight is providing her.

I’ve seen some very interesting things…you’ll see my photo’s when I get home! Talk to you later!

- Stephanie (Shidifenni)

***

Hello la France,

Ca y est les choses serieuses ont commencees depuis 3 jours. Je dois reconnaitre que je ne vois pas le temps passer, cela fait deja 5 jours que je suis en Chine. L’equipe au grand complet est tres sympathique et serieuse dans la mission. Nous avons visite lundi après-midi les 2 usines (fabrique de lunettes metals et lunettes plastiques) c’etait tres instructif. Bon, surtout ne vous inquietez pas pour moi pour les repas, des fois on ne sait pas ce que l’on mange, mais comme c’est bon il n’y a pas de problemes. Bon je vais vous laisser car il est deja 21h30 et la fatigue commence a se faire sentir.

A+ (peut-etre) pour de nouvelles aventures.

Francoise.

May 11, 2011

Clinic Day Two

By knovak

Clinic Day Two

It’s day two and by now we have ironed out the kinks in our clinic process and get to bond with our teammates and volunteers in between serving patient groups. Fortunately, most of the TriStar employees have healthy eyes. This makes our sunglass dispensing area very popular. We examined over 800 workers today and provided either prescription eyewear or sunglasses to all. Each clinic team member was also given the opportunity to learn a different station within the clinic. By the end of the two weeks, each core member will learn registration, visual acuities, auto-refraction, and dispensing. It is great to see team members from Luxottica Wholesale, OPSM, Sears Optical, Pearle Vision, Lenscrafters, Sunglass Hut, LOM, Oakley and more come together with OneSight to make this happen!

May 10, 2011

Clinic Day 1

By knovak

We arrived at the clinic to be greeted with an opening ceremony including live music and dancers. Once we got started we quickly realized our services were greatly appreciated. Our patients move thru the stations of the clinic and complete the process in a room that TriStar calls the “disco.” It did become quite the party as hundreds of workers selected their eyewear and sunglasses. It is a good thing that we have a team of volunteers from the local college to help with translation.  We also have support from Global Motion and Essilor, the frame and lens manufacturers that are providing the eyewear for the clinic. Thanks to their efforts and our amazing team, we were able see almost 700 employees on our first day.

May 9, 2011

2011 China Team Members Finally Meet in Dongguan

By knovak

Ni hao!

That’s Chinese for hello! Early Sunday morning approximately 40 clinic members finally came together for the first time after several days of travel. Some of us travelled over 24 flight hours in 4 different planes to get to Dongguan, China. This clinic team is comprised of members representing at least 7 countries including Italy, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, France, Canada and the US.

After a day to acclimate to the time change, 12 hours for those of us accustomed to EST, we made our way on Monday to the TriStar facility. We were greeted with a surprise welcome including bouquets of fresh flowers and were treated to a tour of the manufacturing plant prior to completing our clinic set up. Luxottica’s TriStar facility is a 24 hour a day manufacturing facility that produces over 100,000 complete frames per day plus several other components such as temples and emblems. The workers are comprised of about 72% women and 28% men and most are younger than 24 years of age. The facility resembles a campus, in that the housing, meals and social activities are provided for the workers that live on site.

Over the next 2 weeks we will provide eye health exams to most of the 6500 employees that work at TriStar. All will receive either newly manufactured prescription eyewear if needed, or a pair of sunglasses. Check back with us often to follow the stories and experiences of each team member as we continue our mission to provide the world with vision care and the gift of sight.