Dias Dos y Tres

Days two and three went smoothly even though the clinic was busy. Together, we saw over 3,100 patients, and have referred at least one hundred people to the surgery clinic. In fact, today was the first day of surgeries and we're all looking forward to hearing how the clinic is working out for the Vision Outreach International volunteers.

Here are just a few of the great stories that happen every hour on the hour in Honduras.
















Inneesha Nelson (Burnaby, British Columbia), pictured above, helped a 21-year-old woman with her first pair of glasses. The woman's prescription was fairly high, with a minus-6 cylinder (that's optical talk for not being able to see clearly). We were able to find a great match and the glasses matched the shirt she was wearing to boot!














Julie Kohler (Hartford, WI) dispensed a super pair of frames of a nine-year-old girl who received her first pair of glasses ever. She also had a high prescription with a minus-7 cylinder, not an easy match to make on a mission.















Inneesha and Amy Purcell (Akron, OH) helped find an excellent match for 35-year-old Maruin who had never worn glasses. He was minus-13 in one eye and minus-14 in the other. It was amazing that we were able to find glasses for him that so closely matched his prescription...and they were a fine, fine-looking pair. Tears all around in this group as we dispensed and his mother thanked us.














But in between the tears, there is always time for plenty of smiles, hugs, and blessings for all of the kids we see, including the fantastic group of volunteers from New Horizon School that have been with us for three clinic days. Truly incredible - they could run the clinic without us! Here's Craig Alter (Cincinnati, OH and chief blogger) hamming it up with a young recipient.















And, today was Hometown Day for the team. We all wore something that represented our home state whether it was sports-oriented or something else special from our city. And Christian Meinert from Germany sported a super pair of leather leiderhosen (sp?). Here he is with Candido Benvegnu from Sedico, Italy.

Speaking of Christian, he wants to say hello to all of his fans and friends in Germany and let you know he's made plenty of balloon animals.


And Eva Zawadzki from Odessa, Ontario gives a shout out to all of her family and friends. Eva leads our team in total donations to OneSight.

Bienvenudos from San Pedro Sula

Hola, Family and Friends! Everyone has arrived in San Pedro Sula safely and ready to give the gift of sight to more than 15,000 Honduran men, women and children over 8 clinic days. Today was our first day at the clinic, which, thanks to the incredible Lions Club, is absolutely fantastic...and air conditioned!

Everything flowed so smoothly you would have thought we had all been on several missions together but the truth is, we have about 50% first-time mission participants on this clinic. Everyone jumped right into their stations, learned the process, and kept it fun.

Here are the quick numbers: 1,172 eyeglasses dispensed in seven hours. 20% of those glasses were chabellas (crafted by hand in the clinic by a team of dedicated volunteers). And nearly 60 referrals to the cataract surgery clinic that will be run by Vision Outreach International (VOI).

But the numbers aren't the important stuff -- what's most important is seeing the smiles and receiving the hugs and blessing from those we're helping. Here are three highlights:

Jeff Dunaway (Sunglass Hut, Cincinnati, OH) dispensed a pair of minus-13s to a teenage girl who was not only excited about being able to see clearly, she also loved the look of her new frames!

Julie Kohler (LensCrafters, Wisconsin) told the group that one mother exclaimed how happy her son was about finally looking like his hero, Harry Potter. All because we were able to provide him with a hand-crafted pair of chabellas in his exact prescription.

The mission wasn't all work -- there was also time to play. Our resident balloon animal expert, Christian Meinert, twisted balloons into all sorts of fun shapes for the kids during the clinic. The effort was a huge bang with the kids and with the entire team (sometimes loud when the balloons popped).

Happy Birthday to Dr. Tosh Arciaga and Dr. Kevin Miller! Everyone on the team says hello and lots of love to friends, family, and everyone following this blog.

1 Week To Go

Honduras Here We Come!

On Monday, April 27, our team from all over the globe will be arriving in San Pedro Sula, Honduras to give the Gift of Sight to thousands of people! For 2 weeks, we will be giving free eye exams, eyeglasses, sunglasses, and even eye surgeries to the men, women, and children of Honduras.

Our host partners in Honduras, the local Lions Club, has been planning and preparing for our arrival for many months. The OneSight Foundation team has ensured safe delivery of thousands of eyeglasses, sunglasses, and other medical supplies for our use.

We invite you to follow this blog and share our experiences in words and pictures while we are there! We hope you will share your comments and messages with us! Stay tuned for our first post from Honduras!