__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mission Reports
MISSION TRIP TO PERU by DR. KARLIT WONG
From: RED DEER, AB, CANADA
From: RED DEER, AB, CANADA
Yvonne and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The trip was set for 11 days, but it took over 40 hours to get to Lima, Peru and took longer to got home. Minus two Sabbaths, we actually worked for only 5 days. But it was very busy.
Going to the trip, we had two family physicians with the group. For the optometry team we had 5 people, a translator for me as I don't speak Spanish. One student who speaks good Spanish to take VA and chief complaint. One student for drop dispensing and one student and my wife for glasses dispensing. For the first day of work, I tried to do the exams as comprehensive as possible and we ended up seeing 48/49 people, but we left a lot of people un-attended. The second day in another village, we tried to speed the process up and we managed to see 67 or so, but we had to turned away some. On the third day, we tried to streamline the operation and we did manage to serve over 77 people. On the way to another village of the fourth day, we got the phone call that over 300 hundred people were already waiting outside the clinic, we decided that we could only do the Focused-Treatment process. We knew what their chief complaint was and we treated them accordingly. Fortunately, over 85 % were optical. We were able to take care of over 97 people that day. Still, we had to turned away people. On the fifth day, we only worked till 1:30 p.m. as we had to drive back to Cusco that afternoon. We eventually examined and treated about 70 people that day. Again, we had to turn some away. The native are very gentle people. They lined up and waited for their turn. They did not push or shout. When they were told that we were sorry that we could not see them as we did not have the time, they just turned away without complaints. We wished that we could do more for them. We ended up dispensed over 300 pairs of glasses. I used up most of the medications I brought with me, the antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and moisture drops.
The hand-held autorefractor worked well. May I suggest that we should replace the retinoscope head. I could not use it at all. If possible, replace the ophthalmoloscope head as well. It is very dim to look through it. People in Peru have dark brown eyes with small pupils. It was hard to try to find out what was going on at the back of their eyes and could not see much at all. A tono-pen will be a plus and we can sometimes find out their IOPs. A hand-held slim lamp will be great, but we can work with a 20D and Trans-illuminator so far.
Even we only met this group of people the first time, we felt so close to work together. Dr. Lorena and her husband, Pyron, wanted us to visit them in Costa Rica and I tried to invite them coming to visit our most beautiful Canadian Rockies. We really enjoyed the trip and we definitely will do it again, hopefully once a year. Certainly you can put my name on the list for mission trip. Mr. Ortiz told me that their next mission trip will be, possibly, in March next year, to Central America. I told him that we will consider it if we are available at that time. For the annual SDA convention in Louisville, KY, this year, we may not be able to come as we have other commitments near that time.
I would like to thank you and the SDA Optometry Association for organizing the equipment, glasses and the ophthalmic meds for the trip. Without such supplies, we would not be able to serve them at all.
Karlit
Going to the trip, we had two family physicians with the group. For the optometry team we had 5 people, a translator for me as I don't speak Spanish. One student who speaks good Spanish to take VA and chief complaint. One student for drop dispensing and one student and my wife for glasses dispensing. For the first day of work, I tried to do the exams as comprehensive as possible and we ended up seeing 48/49 people, but we left a lot of people un-attended. The second day in another village, we tried to speed the process up and we managed to see 67 or so, but we had to turned away some. On the third day, we tried to streamline the operation and we did manage to serve over 77 people. On the way to another village of the fourth day, we got the phone call that over 300 hundred people were already waiting outside the clinic, we decided that we could only do the Focused-Treatment process. We knew what their chief complaint was and we treated them accordingly. Fortunately, over 85 % were optical. We were able to take care of over 97 people that day. Still, we had to turned away people. On the fifth day, we only worked till 1:30 p.m. as we had to drive back to Cusco that afternoon. We eventually examined and treated about 70 people that day. Again, we had to turn some away. The native are very gentle people. They lined up and waited for their turn. They did not push or shout. When they were told that we were sorry that we could not see them as we did not have the time, they just turned away without complaints. We wished that we could do more for them. We ended up dispensed over 300 pairs of glasses. I used up most of the medications I brought with me, the antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and moisture drops.
The hand-held autorefractor worked well. May I suggest that we should replace the retinoscope head. I could not use it at all. If possible, replace the ophthalmoloscope head as well. It is very dim to look through it. People in Peru have dark brown eyes with small pupils. It was hard to try to find out what was going on at the back of their eyes and could not see much at all. A tono-pen will be a plus and we can sometimes find out their IOPs. A hand-held slim lamp will be great, but we can work with a 20D and Trans-illuminator so far.
Even we only met this group of people the first time, we felt so close to work together. Dr. Lorena and her husband, Pyron, wanted us to visit them in Costa Rica and I tried to invite them coming to visit our most beautiful Canadian Rockies. We really enjoyed the trip and we definitely will do it again, hopefully once a year. Certainly you can put my name on the list for mission trip. Mr. Ortiz told me that their next mission trip will be, possibly, in March next year, to Central America. I told him that we will consider it if we are available at that time. For the annual SDA convention in Louisville, KY, this year, we may not be able to come as we have other commitments near that time.
I would like to thank you and the SDA Optometry Association for organizing the equipment, glasses and the ophthalmic meds for the trip. Without such supplies, we would not be able to serve them at all.
Karlit
The Potomac Conference sponsored this mission trip. It was very well organized and it was a huge blessing to us!
We took 10 different airplanes to get to Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil and back.
There were 44 people who answered the call to physically go and make a difference!
We had 14 from our “local” group that went with us. There were 7 were non-Adventist who joined us on this trip. Six of those 7 were from our “local” group.
Our time of service was for 12 days. Medical, dental, and eye clinics were held along with an evangelistic series that started prior to our arrival. The vision team saw over 300 patients! Our team was Troy, myself, a student to point to the acuity chart, and our interpreter. There was a crew that built the church and there was also another group that held Vacation Bible School twice a day.
Many, many prayers were answered. Luggage fees of $400 were waved, just for Troy and I alone. That was a blessing! Three women from our group that met up with us in Panama City from Southern California were sold tickets on our over full flight. The director took 3 guys from our group off the plane so the women could go with us, and the guys joined us 5 days later! This resulted in no videoing of the eye team. Sorry folks!
We saw a variety of God’s wonderful creatures on this trip. We saw different type of birds; we saw alligators, and piranha. The sky is HUGE! It was beautiful to see the rainstorms coming, watch the sunsets, and view the tremendous cloud formations! We learned how to sleep comfortably in our hammocks, ate delicious and bountiful food, bathed in the Amazon, and met many wonderful people. The children were the best!
Some of the biggest blessings were that the local Adventist church in Moura, Amazonas, Brazil now has a building to meet in, they’ve more than doubled their membership, and we witnessed 44 baptisms! What would happen if we doubled our membership in each of our churches?
Janice & Dr. Troy Bailey
Joseph, OR
We took 10 different airplanes to get to Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil and back.
There were 44 people who answered the call to physically go and make a difference!
We had 14 from our “local” group that went with us. There were 7 were non-Adventist who joined us on this trip. Six of those 7 were from our “local” group.
Our time of service was for 12 days. Medical, dental, and eye clinics were held along with an evangelistic series that started prior to our arrival. The vision team saw over 300 patients! Our team was Troy, myself, a student to point to the acuity chart, and our interpreter. There was a crew that built the church and there was also another group that held Vacation Bible School twice a day.
Many, many prayers were answered. Luggage fees of $400 were waved, just for Troy and I alone. That was a blessing! Three women from our group that met up with us in Panama City from Southern California were sold tickets on our over full flight. The director took 3 guys from our group off the plane so the women could go with us, and the guys joined us 5 days later! This resulted in no videoing of the eye team. Sorry folks!
We saw a variety of God’s wonderful creatures on this trip. We saw different type of birds; we saw alligators, and piranha. The sky is HUGE! It was beautiful to see the rainstorms coming, watch the sunsets, and view the tremendous cloud formations! We learned how to sleep comfortably in our hammocks, ate delicious and bountiful food, bathed in the Amazon, and met many wonderful people. The children were the best!
Some of the biggest blessings were that the local Adventist church in Moura, Amazonas, Brazil now has a building to meet in, they’ve more than doubled their membership, and we witnessed 44 baptisms! What would happen if we doubled our membership in each of our churches?
Janice & Dr. Troy Bailey
Joseph, OR
Mission Bangladesh: In March of 2011, I joined a group of dentists and healthcare providers from Loma Linda University on a medical missions trip to the rural areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a growing economical country with a large overpopulation. Imagine taking one half the U.S. population and putting them into a land area the size of Iowa; this would be an accurate description of Bangladesh. One third of the country’s people are below poverty levels. Access to healthcare in these poverty-stricken classes is limited. Christianity is also very limited, as the country is mostly muslim.
After a 25-hour plane ride, a group of 40 medical missionaries along with volunteer support staff and translators boarded a bus in order to begin the 6 hour ride to our destination. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, has approximately 20 million people. Its roadways can be very dangerous as there are no traffic signals, or any enforced driving protocols. The city streets are a mixture of both the olden era of rickshaws and basket carrying peddlers, along with the modern vehicles of small cars and large buses. Vehicles and pedestrians would travel in so close a proximity that we could reach out our windows and touch the people in the streets. The locals’ term for arriving at a traffic intersection is, “he with the strongest heart, goes first”.
Through God’s mercy we arrived at KMMS (Kellogg-Mookerjee Memorial Seminary) an Adventist school and orphanage located in the rural countryside. It was here that we would spend the next 5 days meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the locals. Each day we would open our gates to an awaiting crowd at 8:00am. They would be welcomed by a team of nurses to triage and direct. Each person could choose only one of three services, physician exam, dental exam or vision. Vision services were very popular, as they knew that they would be leaving with either eyeglasses or eyedrops. If they wanted another service, they would have to come back the next day. Large lines would quickly build within our campus. Our local missionary host, Dr. Paul Moskala, DDS, would preach the health message to the waiting crowds. Many had never heard the benefits of drinking clean water, nutrition or on basic health topics such as the immune system. Soon after the first day, word quickly spread that western doctors were offering free services. We would awake to find 200 – 300 people clamoring at our gate. At night, Dr. Moskala would take us out into the local villages as he preached the gospel message. Large numbers of villagers would raise their hand acknowledging a commitment to get to know Jesus.
Our vision services were richly blessed with supplies of reading glasses, plano sunglasses, donated spectacles and topical therapeutics. A tally of patients revealed over 1200 people were seen. Most were given corrective eyewear while others were treated for a various anterior segment diseases. Demographic analyses showed most were women in their early 40’s. The highest prescription dispensed was a -11.00 for a young adult male. The most expensive set was a Lunor frame and sunglass clip dispensed to a young female with retinitis pigmentosa. While the most clinically challenging patient was a metal corneal foreign body removal from an infant. As you can see, despite the numerous challenges, the Lord was able to provide.
Leaving for Bangladesh, I was physically prepared to face the environment. But I was not mentally prepared for the clear evidences of God’s providences day after day. On this mission I witnessed divine miracles of healing the physical body. But more importantly, the healing of the human soul, as many re-directed their lives towards Jesus -- the best medicine.
If you would like to be a part or support God’s vision for us here, visit the ASDAO website for available mission opportunities.
Ross W. Collins OD, MS
After a 25-hour plane ride, a group of 40 medical missionaries along with volunteer support staff and translators boarded a bus in order to begin the 6 hour ride to our destination. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, has approximately 20 million people. Its roadways can be very dangerous as there are no traffic signals, or any enforced driving protocols. The city streets are a mixture of both the olden era of rickshaws and basket carrying peddlers, along with the modern vehicles of small cars and large buses. Vehicles and pedestrians would travel in so close a proximity that we could reach out our windows and touch the people in the streets. The locals’ term for arriving at a traffic intersection is, “he with the strongest heart, goes first”.
Through God’s mercy we arrived at KMMS (Kellogg-Mookerjee Memorial Seminary) an Adventist school and orphanage located in the rural countryside. It was here that we would spend the next 5 days meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the locals. Each day we would open our gates to an awaiting crowd at 8:00am. They would be welcomed by a team of nurses to triage and direct. Each person could choose only one of three services, physician exam, dental exam or vision. Vision services were very popular, as they knew that they would be leaving with either eyeglasses or eyedrops. If they wanted another service, they would have to come back the next day. Large lines would quickly build within our campus. Our local missionary host, Dr. Paul Moskala, DDS, would preach the health message to the waiting crowds. Many had never heard the benefits of drinking clean water, nutrition or on basic health topics such as the immune system. Soon after the first day, word quickly spread that western doctors were offering free services. We would awake to find 200 – 300 people clamoring at our gate. At night, Dr. Moskala would take us out into the local villages as he preached the gospel message. Large numbers of villagers would raise their hand acknowledging a commitment to get to know Jesus.
Our vision services were richly blessed with supplies of reading glasses, plano sunglasses, donated spectacles and topical therapeutics. A tally of patients revealed over 1200 people were seen. Most were given corrective eyewear while others were treated for a various anterior segment diseases. Demographic analyses showed most were women in their early 40’s. The highest prescription dispensed was a -11.00 for a young adult male. The most expensive set was a Lunor frame and sunglass clip dispensed to a young female with retinitis pigmentosa. While the most clinically challenging patient was a metal corneal foreign body removal from an infant. As you can see, despite the numerous challenges, the Lord was able to provide.
Leaving for Bangladesh, I was physically prepared to face the environment. But I was not mentally prepared for the clear evidences of God’s providences day after day. On this mission I witnessed divine miracles of healing the physical body. But more importantly, the healing of the human soul, as many re-directed their lives towards Jesus -- the best medicine.
If you would like to be a part or support God’s vision for us here, visit the ASDAO website for available mission opportunities.
Ross W. Collins OD, MS