THE GIFT OF SIGHT

Project Amigo does not only provide the gift of education, and literacy. We also provide the gift of Sight; Each January a team of volunteers comes to Colima, Mexico to participate in a Project Amigo Vision Clinic. It is one of the busiest workweeks of the entire season, but also one of the most rewarding and empowering. It takes a lot of preparation and of course eager volunteers, including some bi-lingual local friends who are able to assist as translators. Amongst these translators are our Project Amigo’s scholars, who assist on a regular basis, as well as our friends Isabel and Antonio and Elena and Eduardo, who spend much of their time in Cofradia.

While I start working on the paperwork and getting welcome packages, shirts etc. ready for the next group of volunteers, and assure the rooms are in tip top shape, Ramiro helps with some of the gardening and drives to Manzanillo to pick up returning volunteer Shirley, who is also a member of the Canadian Board of Directors.

 

Anilu gives us a two page grocery list and after a visit to Costco and Walllmart we have our van loaded with supplies for the coming week.

We have a few more days to enjoy a quiet meal together before the next group arrives on Friday for the Annual Vision Clinic.

Thursday night we join the Rotary Cub of Colima for their weekly meeting. It is January 6^th, Epiphany, or Day of the Kings in many cultures. It is celebrated with a Rosca -  a large ring shaped cake with fruit. Hidden inside are one or more tiny plastic dolls, called niños Dios. The person who finds the Niño is expected to prepare a meal on February 2^nd. The day on which the virgin Candelaria is honoured. (we turn to Candelaria to ask for food). The dishes served during this day may be different from one state to the other. In Colima, the usual dishes are Tamales, (steamed corn husks filled with a corn paste and other fillings, which could be any type of meat, cheese or strips of peppers); Atole, - a ground corn beverage, with cinnamon and cream, to which chocolate or coffee may be added). So I need to make sure there is someone who can prepare these dishes for me, and secondly, I better be sure that I am available.

The usual arrival day for a Work Week is Saturday afternoon, but that does not always work for everyone. We have a group of volunteers arriving on Friday and start the activities a day earlier. (More work for me; Yippee!!).

We start the day with a delicious hot breakfast, followed by an orientation walk through the village with Ted and Susan each taking a group. 

A Vision Clinic orientation is given by Dr. Kim, one of the six optometrists from Coastal Eye Care Centres from Vancouver Island, Canada. (Staff of the Coastal Eye Centres raise money throughout the year to sponsor staff members to participate in the vision workweek). This week’s group has six staff members, including Optometrist Meagan and Optician John as well as local Rotarian Robert and his wife Maria.

 

 

 

All the equipment and cabinets, filled with sorted and catalogued eye glasses are loaded in one of the Project Amigo vans and after the hard work is done we are served Tequila and lunch at the Arroyo Condo. We take advantage of the opportunity to tour the complex, including the area down the stairs by the river, to a nice sitting area; Great for meditation or a BBQ. The swings hanging from the trees over the creek are a fun way to enjoy some leisure time.

 

 

 

 The remaining volunteers arrive Saturday afternoon and late evening. Our group  now has 16 volunteers. We could use more, but we will recruit some of the scholars and hopefully children of Project Amigo staff to assist us this coming week.

Sunday morning, before we get to work, we visit the Queseria Migrant Workers Camp and Casa Amiga, where we get to meet some of the high school students, who serve us coffee, tea or juice and Pan Dulce (which include Danish, fruit turnovers and other delicious pastries).

Now we are ready to do our test run. Beto (Project Amigo’s full time program director) left earlier to set up the equipment and the stations at the Colima Rotary Club, with the help of some of our scholars and members of the Colima Rotary Club.

Because some of us don’t have a clue of what our role will be, we do a test run through all nine stations, starting at registration; Next is medical history, followed by the station that will apply drops to dilate the pupils - for a better reading of the eyes -, blood pressure, blood sugar measure, dominant eye test and the familiar reading wall chart. At the auto refraction station we read the prescription of the patients eye with a sophisticated hand held machine.

There is also a station for those who need to see the eye doctor - of which there are now four, with Dr. Carl from New York and a local Optometrist Dr. Alex.

Retired Optometrist Mack finds a quiet corner where he will neutralize (measuring the prescription) the boxes filled with donated, used eye glasses, as well as the glasses of our patients coming through the clinic.

There is also a computer station set up with a special program, made to catalogue, search and dispense the glasses from the large cabinets.

Once everyone has determined what station they like to work at, we are set to go for our first group of patients. But wait a minute, we did not have lunch yet. Well, aren’t we lucky; While we were busy setting up our stations and learn what to do and how, the Rotarians and their spouses were busy preparing a meal for us of BBQed beef strips, tortillas and cactus leaf salad with tomatoes and onions.

Now let the fun begin. This is only a test run, during which we see 40 patients, who have all been waiting very patiently until we all returned from lunch.

 We take a moment to celebrate the moment our first two patients are fitted with glasses. They will start wearing them the moment they can remove the dark roll ups lenses after sunset.

Our patients keep us entertained with their stories and one brings a tiny puppy for everyone to admire. We also have ways to entertain each other by trying on some of the donated glasses.

We work hard but have lots of fun doing it.

Tired, but satisfied about what we have accomplished; Offering a large number of people a pair of glasses, so they can read, sew or drive better and safer, we return to the Hacienda where after dinner, Ted presents his usual Tequila 101. For some reason this group seems to go through a much larger quantity of Tequila than usual. Ah well, at least everyone goes to bed happy, some even VERY happy.

 

Monday we start early, with breakfast at the Hacienda, where Dr. Carl gets to meet the young scholar he sponsors. Ramiro is there to translate the conversation between Carl and his young scholar.

The Amigo bus takes us back to Colima again, where a large number of patients are already standing in line outside in the hot sun, waiting to have their eyes checked. 

Government officials are at hand for a short presentation to thank us for our work and soon we are ready to see 221 patients. 

 

Lunch is catered in the partitioned part of the building and we take turns to eat in small groups, so the others can continue with the flow of patients.

Our hard work for today is rewarded by a visit to Coquimatlan, where festivities are at full swing, with lots of entertainment at the square, and many food tents. The DIF (Mexican Social Services) is buying our dinner tonight. We try delicious Tostadas (hard, thin, flat tacos) with meat, shredded lettuce and tomatoes and an order of tamales. We wash it all down with fruit juice and some of our own brought wine.

 

There is a parade tonight, followed by fireworks. After such a long busy day, some volunteers rather return to Cofradia while other slowly walk towards the bus, meeting up with the parade of dancers.

We have all received three different shirts for this workweek, Monday we all wore our personalized white polo shirt with a reading chart printed on the back. Today, Tuesday, we drive to Cerro de Ortega, near the banana plantation and wear our yellow shirt, which also has the GROW logo printed on the front. (The banana plantation sponsor).

At lunch time we get to meet some of our scholars at the Ciber Café, sponsored by GROW. They have prepared lunch for us in a very professional way, with signs indicating the name of the dish. Everything is presented very nicely. We walk to lunch in small groups again, some are being driven by Ramiro in the Van, which goes with us everywhere we go. In case we need supplies, have an emergency, or in this case drives some of the volunteers to lunch.

By the time we have taken 199 patients through all the stations, it is almost 7:00 pm. Rather than driving all the way back to Cofradia, we stop at Mi Ranchito for dinner. It’s a great place for Taco Mania. A large seating areas is set up on the second level and besides our additional volunteers, we have invited one of our young scholars Cesar and his to join us. Cesar is the disabled child from Queseria Migrant Workers camp. His sponsor Heather has joined us for her second work week and today it is her 40^th birthday. Between Jorge and Anilu, the idea of having Cesar and his family join us was a big surprise for Heather and most of the volunteers.

 

There are not many dry eyes in the room, when we see Cesar being brought into the restaurant with his wheelchair. Cesar presents Heather with flowers and they get to spend some time together. 

For a poor Mexican it is a somewhat intimidating and overwhelming experience to be part of an event such as this. Their two other children are looking their eyes out; They have never before eaten in a restaurant.

After Ted has made a short speech. We all start singing “Happy Birthday” and the Mexicans amongst us follow with their “Las Mañanitas”; Much different from our traditional song but also much longer, so it takes a bit longer to start on the cake, which was baked by one of our cooks, Tina and brought in by Jorge. In curly letters “Happy Birthday Heather” is written on it. The waiters cut up the cake and everyone, including Cesar gets to taste some. 

Today being the only day we get to wear our yellow shirt, one of our volunteers, Brenda decides to make this a souvenir shirt and has everyone sign it before the night is over. Another great evening. I never though volunteering could be so much fun. We’ve all been fed well and are ready for a nap once we get back on the Amigo bus again for our drive back to Cofradia.

Wednesday; our third, full vision clinic day.

Our volunteers came home very tired last night, but several still join us for the 7 am walk before we all join for breakfast at the Hacienda at 8:30.

We load the cooler filled with beverages, snack and other supplies on the bus and drive the one and a half hour to Coquimatlan.

Once everyone has all their equipment set up and signs placed, we go through the same routine as the pevious days. After a busy morning we walk to the tiny restaurant Betos’ wife Ita runs. She is a fantastic cook and has prepared a fish dish, rice, salad and beans for us, with, of course the standard tortillas. Although it is very warm outside, for some it is an opportunity to get some fresh air, or at least stretch the legs.

We do our best to allow everyone to take a break, for some lunch is not until well after 3:00 pm. But they are so busy, some don’t even notice it is already that late.

We’re always short of bi lingual volunteers, but this week we have been lucky having some of scholars, who are still on vacation, as well as Diego’s son Bizmark, who speaks pretty good English. He’s a great help, even if it means babysitting some of the little ones, while the parents get their eyes checked.

When patient number 224 has gone through the first two stations, that crew starts cleaning up and take the opportunity to go for a walk, enjoy a nice cold beer, or wait for a turn to get a massage from one of the local volunteers.

 

 Ita has prepared another meal for us which is delivered to the clinic. The wine flows and everyone is relaxed and takes the opportunity to share stories about their station; The people they met, the people they fit with glasses and the appreciation they received. It has been another rewarding day. When we arrive in Cofradia, someare ready to go to bed, while others are ready to party.

Tonight there are fireworks in Cofradia, with dancing on the square and music and all the other stuff that go with it. Ramiro drives me back to the RV and joins the young group for the party. I go straight to bed and don’t even hear him come home.

One of my favorite trips with Project Amigo is to Pihuamo; south west of Cofradia in the state of Jalisco. As we cross the border line, the army waves us right through, without us having to stop. Well, that was a breeze, it’s not always that easy. Sometimes they stop us and enter the bus and want to see who and what is on the bus.

The scenery along this mountainous road is beautiful, although I personally don’t get to see too much of it. I quickly retrieved all my e-mails before breakfast and read and process them on the bus.

The Rotary club in Pihuamo is very supportive of our endeavors and has everything organized for us.

The set up here is totally different from previous days. Rather than being in one large hall, each station is set up in a different room, making the entire day a lot different. We don’t get to oversee the entire set up. I prepare coffee and set up my supplies station, with water, juice, soft drinks, snack and anything else our volunteers may need, including toilet tissue and Kleenex. I fill my tray with coffee cups and snacks and go around each station, making sure everyone is well taken care of. It is important, with these high temperatures that everyone drinks plenty of fluids. We’re not always that lucky that there is airconditioner in the building and have many fans set up.

Lunch is at a small hall where the Rotary spouses have prepared a lunch of spaghetti, a sort of meat loaf and something that looks like Waldorf salad.

It’s past 6:00 pm, when the last patient leaves the centre and we all join at the Rotary hall for a meal of tortillas. A large group of Rotarians and their spouses is there to enjoy some fellowship with us. Some of our volunteers take advantage of the opportunity to do a club banner exchange. Tired, but content we all get back on the bus again for the drive back to Cofradia.  This time around, we need to stop the bus as we enter the state line. The, very young soldier enters the bus and listens to Diego explaining that we are all volunteers who have been working very hard all day on a Vision clinic. He seems to have sympathy for the sleepy passengers. The soldier does not have any further questions or demands and leaves the bus with a friendly Buenas Noche.

Our last clinic day; I hear the exited voices from the Coastal Eye Care group talk about their plans for the three upcoming days they will have at the beach in Manzanillo, after this busy work week. As much as they enjoy doing this type of work, they look forward to a few days of R & R. We arrive in Armeria just before 11 and see a long line up of people already waiting outside. The air is hot and humid, but none of them complain while they wait their turn to enter the building. Everyone quickly sets up their equipment and the first patient is ready to be interviewed. There is a good reason we all wear out Vision Clinic T-shirts. It helps others identiy who are volunteers and who are not. The ong shits also cover up certain body part.

We see patients of all age groups. When an elderly lady enters and sits down at the registration table. Her card is being filled in with information which helps us do our job. The volunteer at that station tells me the age of this very chatty lady and soon everyone is taking pictures of her. Oh, yes, even at 105 years some women still like to sew and read and want to get a pair of glasses. She tells Ramiro her entire life story and as she moves from one station to the next, she repeats her tales to anyone who wants to hear it.

The first stations are done early enough for some to stroll around town and see all the action.

I visit one of the small stores, where the leather Huaraches are made. If you wish to have some custom made that can be arranged as well. You just have to come back in a few days to pick them up.

Again we are rewarded with a wonderful meal of beef, rice, and tortillas. As delicious as it is, I really miss my fresh salads and tomatoes. I think it is time to start cooking myself again for a few days, or have the staff at the Hacienda prepare a few delicious, well balanced meals.

During our bus rides I have heard the word Ice cream mentioned several times, but there seldom was time to stop or shop for it. Tonight we thought we could make it happen. I arrange with Diego to have the Ice cream man come to our venue with a large cooler with various flavors of scoop ice cream.

What a treat that is! 

With all the Becarios (scholars) still here, we take as many group photas as we possibly can. One of the  the Becarios, one of the Coastal Eye Care group, one of only Canadians and one of the entire group.

It’s almost 11:00 o’clock when we arrive in Cofradia, and I still have to deliver all the camera chips from our volunteers to Juani, whohe is going to burn everyone’s photos onto a DVD to take home. This DVD also contains power point presentation and other helpful file which can be use to promote Project Amigo to groups.

Saturday is the last day the group will be with us. No eye clinic today, but a day of fun and fellowship.

The original plan is to drive to the Banana Plantation, but when we find out that no one is working today, I ask permission for us to go to the Turtle Reserve. Señor Ted approved and a loud cheering come from the bus when I tell them the news.

After we see the turtles we take the group on a boat ride through the mangroves. We continue along the coast for a delicious lunch at Las Hamacas with lots of shrimp, guacamole, tortillas, beer and juice. It’s the desert that reminds us that we likely added on a few extra pounds after a week of eating all these wonderful meals. With the Coastal Eye Care group staying at the coast for a few days or R & R in Manzanillo. We present the farewell packages at the restaurant, with a certificate a personal word of appreciation for everyone.

 

 

It’s not easy to say goodbye to some of those who we have made friends with and we sure hope they will come back next year.

At the Hacienda a meal is waiting for those who stay behind. Some will leave tomorrow, other stay on to assist in some of the work that needs to be done.

We reflect on a fantastic week, during which we have made 18 new friends, saw 1110 patients and provided many with a pair of glasses.

I can hardly wait for the next group of volunteers to arrive, but it does mean I have to get back to work right away to prepare for their arrival.

I look forward to my early morning walks and enjoy the birds and the scenery around me.

Ah, life is good here in Mexico.