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.