Oaxaca Medical Outreach

Last week we had a medical outreach at the base in Oaxaca. I was amazed by the effort put in by all the people here at the mission. The just whipped up hospital rooms out of brick on the basketball courts and little wooden desks. Everyone put in more than 12 hour days and had such good attitudes through it all. The first day people began arriving by the truck load by 5:30. At times it was quite overwhelming to see hundreds of people lined up coming from up to 12 hours away and then waiting all day and even throughout the night just to be seen. My job was helping with the glasses. When patients would leave the eye doctor I would dig through the boxes of donated glasses for a perscription that somewhat matched. I must say patience and kindness did not always flow out of me as I would look and dig for a somewhat close perscription and after FINALLY finding something the person would ask for a better looking pair. Despite my little selfish breakdowns the week went great and I honestly really enjoyed it. So often I'd have little women looking for reading glasses and so when I'd hold up a book or something to look at they'd reply with a hint of embarrassment in their voices that they didn't know how to read. Most women don't need glasses to read but rather to cook and to sew so we began using the great idea my friend Elaine had, having the ladies practice threading a needle with glasses. It was so neat to see people who had once thought they'd never again be able to see, see again. The people here showed such gratitude for everything we did and I recieved many hugs and kisses on the cheek. It was a great opportunity to be a part of.

(We had a little photo shoot with the glasses)