Clinic Blog: South Dakota Blog

June 17, 2010

View blog photos

By tracho

Hey all....you need to click on the blog entry under "recent posts" to see the photos that go with the entry.

June 25, 2010

New Friends

By tracho

It always amazes me at how quickly a group of people from so many different backgrounds can bond and work together so easily. Our common goal is what makes it so easy, knowing why we are here and never forgetting it while we are here.

This group has been truly amazing! We all feel the same way about this team and expressed it during our pinning ceremony last night. We all felt so comfortable so quickly with each other. Will.i.Am said it perfectly when he said that "because this felt so much like a family, it made it easier to be away from our loved ones for 2 weeks". We are all so greatful that the company we work for gives us this opportunity and the families we leave behind understand and support us so wholeheartedly.

Thank you!

June 25, 2010

Children are not too young for an exam…

By tracho

Over the past 2 weeks there have been many times a parent has come through for an exam and had their young child not registered. Our team has been amazing at encouraging these parents to bring their children through as well. These kids are usually under 6 years old, often just 2 or 3, and mom always says she thought they were too young for an exam!

In so many cases, these toddlers have had higher prescriptions, especially cyl. Yesterday was no exception. I had a mom sit down with me at autorefraction. Her little 2 year old, Jiselle, was not registered to come through the clinic. She went back to the start and had her registered. Both mom and daughter then went through the clinic together and both had signifigant RXs. Little Jiselle had cyl in both eyes of almost minus 4! After Dr.Pam examined her, and she picked out a frame, Terrence took her job straight out to the van and had her new glasses made within the hour. I was able to dispense Jiselle's first pair of glasses later that day and she had a huge smile on her face.

This is why we are here! It is sometimes sad to think of the children we miss but then so rewarding to know the ones who's lives we have made a difference in.

Today was our busiest day at Crow creek. We saw 212 recipients total with 95 of those children.

June 24, 2010

Crow Creek Day 3

By tracho

Well, it’s half way through our second week and if not for the people we miss back home, I’m sure we would all agree that we would stay for 2 more!

The people at Crow creek are taking good care of us. Feeding us VERY well! Nobody will come away from this clinic any thinner with all the baked goodies Robert’s wife keeps making!

There are great stories everyday of the people we are privileged to be helping and lives we are able to change, today was no different.

A man came through our clinic today that said he has not had glasses since 2005. He described how difficult it has been for him to hold down a job over the past 5 years. His prescription was in the range of a -7.00! What a gift, to be able to help this man be employable and support himself and his family once again!

Our second story is again of someone who desperately wants to make a change in her life by going to college. Problem is, she can’t see very well and to make life a little more challenging, she is pregnant. This young lady has not had glasses since 9^th grade and has been enrolled in college for 2 years. She enrolled in college even without being able to see well. Now she can see 20/20 and will have a much easier time in school.

I speak for everyone here when I say that we get far more than we give. It is such a privilege so be selected to attend one of these clinics and serve people in need. We have some first timers here in South Dakota and they, as we all were on our first clinic, are surprised by the experience. We expect to come here and give but instead receive so much more!

June 23, 2010

Saving Snapping Turtles!

By tracho

One of our team members, Nikki, received an email from a man's wife who had received new glasses from us last week at the Rosebud reserve.

Kevin Iron has not had glasses for 7 years! he has not driven a car for 7 years! Kevin's total RX was around a -8.00! As soon as Nikki put his new glasses on him, he asked his wife for the car keys. She said no....not yet. He desperately wants to drive a car again. On the way home, Kevin saw a snapping turtle on the road and asked his wife to stop the car! Kevin jumped out of the car and moved the turtle safely off the road as they continued on their way home.

June 23, 2010

Crow Creek toddler can see much better!

By tracho

We woke up to a beautiful morning at the Crow Creek reservation and what would turn out to be our hottest day yet. It reached about 94 today (31c for us Canadians).

The day started out fairly slow but started to pick up quite a bit after lunch. In total we saw 118 people today with new glasses being made for 75 children and 25 adults.

A mother brought her daughter in today for an exam. They were both getting registered when Glee asked the mother why the younger sister was not getting her eyes checked. The little girl was about 2 1/2 years old. The mom said she was too young to get her eyes checked. Glee convinced the mom to have little Vella's eyes checked seeing as she was here anyways. After Dr.Mita saw her, it turns out her prescription had cyl in both eyes of -4.00 ! When Vella first put her glasses on, she did not want to leave them on but after some pursuading and having her put them on a few more times, she left them on. Her walk out of the clinic was somewhat apprehensive but imagine what she could now see! What a great gift for someone who is just discovered her world, a world that will now be much clearer!

June 22, 2010

It’s For The Children

By calter

Our primary focus for our clinics in South Dakota is helping the poor children of the reservations.  On our first day (Monday) at the Crow Creek reservation, our recipients were 90% children.  We saw children with high prescriptions who had never had eyeglasses, and some who had lost/broke their glasses a long time ago.  We had a lot of fun interacting with the adorable children of the Crow Creek reservation. They brought smiles to our faces and we brought smiles to theirs.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, they will return to pick up their brand new, perfect eyeglasses to allow their smiles to continue.  Here are just a few of their smiling faces.

June 21, 2010

Weekend is here!

By tracho

We packed up early Saturday morning to head back into rapid City for a day of sightseeing and enjoying each others company. 
First stop took us to the Black Hills and Mt.Rushmore to see a truly amazing sight! We spent a few hours here and then it was a quick stop at the Crazy Horse memorial and off to do some gold panning at a local families claim. Lots of people found some interesting rocks but unfortunately no early retirements!
We all headed into Keystone to do some shopping before the long drive back across the state to our new clinic site at Crow Creek. We were up this morning at 6am and arrived back almost were we started at 12am, so it was a long day and everyone was quick to crash at the new hotel.
Sunday saw us checking out our new surroundings and setting up new site at a nearby auditorium. There was much more cleaning and organizing to do here than our previous site but as would be expected, the team pulled together and set up a great clinic ready see many more recipients first thing Monday morning!

June 21, 2010

Last day at Rosebud

By tracho

Day 5 at the clinic had us seeing far fewer people than previous days as we also had the task of  breaking down the clinic in order for it to be set up at our new site on the Crow Creek reservation northeast .
We ran the clinic from about 8 - 11am.  We saw 34 people on Friday. Our total numbers for this first week was 616 with 337 of those being adults and 279 children.  The numbers of people we saw with high prescriptions and especially high astigmatism was very unexpected. It was not uncommon to see cyls in the minus 3 - 6 range!! 
The team broke down the clinic in record time. Dr. Keith’s (a local OD) wife provided us with a great warm lunch on this last day as we worked to clean up. 
Once we were all back at the hotel and cleaned up, we headed off to Valentine, Nebraska to have a great meal together as a team.
What a great first week at clinic! This is my 5th clinic and to see a team bond so fast and work together so cohesively is a great thing. The fellowship between the team members  early on would have surely made an outsider think we had been friends for years! 
Anyone that has had the privaledge of going on a Onesight clinic, will tell your that we do this to help the world to see, to help these kids have a better chance in life. We are rewarded every time we put another pair of glasses on someone and see them smile. The reward that comes from a mission that is often unexpected, is the deep friendships we develop with one another. As I reflect back on this week, watch my fellow team members interact with each other and think of my own roomie, this mission will be no different!

June 18, 2010

The Dedicated Lab Crew!

By tracho

As anyone knows, that has enjoyed this experience, the heart of any domestic clinic is the lab! This clinic is full of heart and dedication! They have been plagued with breakdowns and challenges but have always found a quick solution or workaround in order to keep on going. Scott, our manager, and Debbie, our production lead, are quick to get things up and running again.

With all of the high cyl jobs here at the reservation, our lab was unexpectedly inundated with surface work right from the get go. All of these unfinished lenses caused our poor generater to get a little overworked! It shut down on day 3 due to a plugged up air filter. At seven the next morning, Scott and Steve headed into Valentine to source out a new filter. They were back at the clinic by about 8:30 and we were up and running again in no time.

Day 4 saw the compressor on the inside lab go down, again due to unexpected work loads! Scott and Debbie took the blocker outside and put it on the back of van so it could be hooked up to ithe van's compresser and get going again.

Day 4 also saw a slight delay as Mike from Oakley searched for a lens stretcher and lensometer dots!!! omg...Best laugh yet!!!

Our lab staff has already worked late 2 nights and come in early 2 mornings in order to try and get more of this work out to the people on the reservation that need it most, the highest prescriptions!

Thanks to Scott, Debbie, Renee, Will, Allan, Tim, Steve, Juanita and Dora for the late nights and early mornings! Your dedication and hard work has not gone unnoticed! Thank you for what you do!

June 17, 2010

Hawaiian Day

By tracho

Dr.Pam Brown from Detroit, MI pulls out all the stops on Hawaiian Day at the clinic!!!

June 17, 2010

Army helps out!

By tracho

We had volunteers from the army helping us out this week!  They are helping out at the local hospital as part of the army reserves. They all have some sort of medical background and decided they could help us out for the week.  After a long week doing anything and everything in our clinic, Teresa decided we ahould see if the guys needed glasses or not, as they did not wear any.

We put all four of them through the clinic and found that both guys did need glasses.  Both ladies also had changed in their RXs; one of them was significant. We had all four of them make their own glasses from start to finish.  What a great experience for all of them to see what went into making a pair of glasses and what they were really a part of this week.  All of them looked great in the new specs and appreciated their new vision!

June 17, 2010

Our 4th day in clinic

By calter

Today, we saw a precious 8 year old girl, who had never worn eyeglasses.  She was brought to clinic by her grandmother.  Her prescription was so strong that she couldn't see clearly more than a couple of feet in front of her.  Her grandmother said she always has to place things right in front of her eyes to read.  This beautiful young girl was squinting to try to see better.  The glasses we'll be making for her will change her life.  She wasn't smiling today, but she will once she can see the world clearly.

Today, we enjoyed a visit to our clinic by the Rosebud tribal president.  He picked out a pair of black Oakley eyeglasses. 

Tonight we are looking forward to a celebration put on by our tribal friends.

June 16, 2010

Our 3rd Clinic Day

By calter

Wednesday was our busiest day in clinic so far.  Today, the importance that parents have their children's eyes examined became ever so clear.  We started noticing some children at clinic with their parents.  The parents were getting their eyes examined, while their children were not.  We started asking some of the parents if we could have their children be taken through the clinic too.  Many of these children had a severe need for eyeglasses and had never seen an eye doctor.  With glasses, their smiles will be brighter, their school grades better, and their life enhanced.  Two little girls are pictured below, Dionavan and Oyate.  They will receive glasses on Thursday.  We're so glad we could help them see the world better! 

June 16, 2010

Our 2nd Day in Clinic

By calter

Our clinic on the Rosebud reservation is still going strong.  We had technical difficulties with updating the blog since our 1st entry, but we're up and running now.  We made beautiful new eyeglasses in the exact prescriptions for over 100 children and adults in great need on Day 2.  We've heard the wonderful words at dispensing from so many people "now I can see so clear".  It is why OneSight exists and brings smiles to our faces too.

June 14, 2010

Arrival in South Dakota

By Admin

We all finally made it to Rapid City...well almost all of us...and almost all of our luggage!

There are 31 of us in total from all over North America. We landed at the rather sleepy airport in Rapid City starting at 9 am with the last of us getting in at 5 pm. We had 2 more show up Monday as their flight was cancelled out of Cincinnati.

After the airport, we had about a 3 hour drive to our destination at the Rosebud Casino and Hotel. We basically drove to the middle of no where, then turned and drove another hour or so!!

June 14, 2010

Our First Clinic Day

By Admin

We made brand new glasses for 136 recipients in need from the reservation. This is the first U.S. clinic in which we have made bi-focals onsite. We had many people with very high cylinders prescriptions, especially children. One particular girl, Kiersten (age 8) did not have eyeglasses, and had a very high and complex prescription. She was so excited to be able to pick out a beautiful pair of new eyeglasses, which will enhance her life so much. She is so excited to be able to see better in school. Here is a picture of Kiersten with Craig Alter, Cincinnati, OH with her new glasses.