Our First Week of Eye Exams

This week was our first week of actually 

performing humanitarian eye exams in Fiji.

We were very excited as we began doing exactly what we came here to do.

This was our first day of working at the High School in Suva.
We did the teachers , all 35 of them!

At times we would have 7 or 8 students waiting in our room

This is our new fancy camera that I get to use on each patient.
 It measures their eyes to help determine their perscription

This is the building where we have been seeing our students

Here are some pictures of the beautiful campus we get to
work in as well as go to church here.

This is their typical school bus.
Notice there is no glass in the windows.

On Friday we were asked to give a presentation
to the whole school about the eye, as well as gospel
principles and about ourselves... It started with a
presentation of 'Salu Salu's' to us. They are similar
to an Hawaiin Lae, and are quite beautiful.

This is me presenting my part..

The kids seemed to love the presentation , this is them trying\
to catch marshmallows that Rick was throwing out to them

Rick making his closing remarks

The older boys playing rugby on campus

It was kind of exciting to see something familiar like this, too

After working in the school all day, it''s
nice to take a walk by the ocean

It has been a good first week of working, we saw about 130 students and 35 teachers.  They are wonderful kids and are anxious to hear about what it is like in Canada, most of them enjoy talking to you and getting to know you.  We feel very privileged to be in such a beautiful place doing something of benefit to others.  We continue working this next week at the high school and then we will go to the Primary (or elementary) school.  We are enjoying also seeing some beautiful scenery here in Fiji and will post that next time....

Our First Week in Fiji

Bula (Fijian for Hello & Good-bye);
This last week has been a week of preparation, organization and a little frustration at times.

Our #1 goal was to get our work permit from the Fiji Immigration Dept.  Without this we could not work.  So, on our first visit, we found out we needed a letter of request, which we didn't have.  We tried several options, none of which could produce one for us.  Finally we went to the Lion's Club, and after what we felt was a tender mercy, we were able to produce that letter and satisfy Immigration.  We then met with the LDS college (high school) here in Suva and let them know of our desire to test all of the students.  They were thrilled and asked us to begin with their staff next week, and then on to the over 400 students.  We will begin on Tuesday.  The principal also asked Rick and I to do a presentation to the whole school on the eye, and also on my role as a wife, mother, and how the church also plays an important role in our lives. We have 80 minutes to fill, and one week to prepare for it.
Another goal this week was to secure a vehicle.  The best option is to find a used vehicle, a few of these possibilities fell through, but thanks to Frank Stanford (our friend here), we were able to basically rent a vehicle from his mechanic friend, and then give it back to him after six months!
This saved us lots of money.  What could be better?  Just another tender mercy!

In our free time, one day, when it actually wasn't raining, we took a walk along the ocean front 

and came to a beautiful park called Sea Breeze Park.  It was so well kept and absolutely 

beautiful.  The park also had a wonderful playground for children.

                               







I'm not sure how much I care for this sign!!!

Two very sweet Fijian sisters wanted to be our first patients.  They came over to our apartment and we tested their eyes.  It was good practice for us.

Today (Saturday), we met with the other couple missionaries at a beautiful restaurant, called the Rain Forest.  It is actually located right in the rain forest, and is very beautiful.  From there we went on a hike that took us deeper into the forest and we crossed over waterfalls; some large, some small.  It was about a two hour hike and we loved it.  Rick did however, take a couple of spills.  Out of all those 20 or so seniors, he was the only one to fall!  In his defense, he was trying to get a good picture!

 This is taken just behind the restaurant.  It used to be an old rock quarry, now a small lake.

This is Linda Curly Christenson, who is the artist doing many of the murals 

and paintings in the Fiji temple before the redidication.  She is here, 

with her husband, for just a few weeks to help in the installation.

 There were some parts of the hike, that were a little tricky, 

for us older people, but we made it!  It was great fun!

This was the lower falls, at the end of the hike.  If you look carefully, 

you will see a young boy on the rope swing, fully dressed, but who cares??

During this first week here, we have visited many different grocery stores in search of the foods we are familiar with, it is interesting to know that some just don't exist, or they cost four or five times more than in Canada.  This will make for quite an adjustment on our eating habits, as well as how we cook and bake!  There have definitely been times of feeling homesick especially this week learning that my dad had been taken into hospital.  It is hard to be so far away, knowing you really can't help or be there for your family.  But we are thankful for their support, we have the greatest parents, and the greatest children.  Thank you all for helping us in our quest to give back just a little.

Our Journey to Suva, Fiji

Before we left, we decided we needed to have a logo on 
our shirts, so we came up with "Eye Care 4 Fiji".  
Makes us look more official, don't you think?

Thinking this might be just a little too much luggage, Rick 
made me downsize to this, I think I did pretty good, don't you?

Now for the grueling trip ahead; flight to LA, then 7hrs layover in the airport, followed by a 12 hour flight to Fiji, concluding with a 4 hr drive to Suva.  Not something to look forward to, that's for sure!

This was no easy task, to get all of our luggage 

in this teeny tiny rental car...

After about 3 hours of driving from Nadi airport towards Suva, we got hungry!  Seeing a 'Fish & Chip' place on the side of the road seemed perfect, even if it was only 9:30 in the morning...

After meeting up with our friend Susan, she took us to our new 'flat'.  Our home sweet home for the next six months.  We really like it, it is clean, new and bug free - so far!  It's a furnished suite but of course we needed to get dishes, kitchen supplies food etc. which we did on our first day in Suva. By the end of that day, we were ready to collapse, jet lag had now set in!

Today (Sunday) we attended church which is held on the LDS College Campus.  It has a beautiful setting and is part open air, so we got to enjoy the birds flying around us while in our meetings.  

Of course Rick wanted to make sure he fit in with the native boys and men, so he wore his skirt, oops, I mean Sulu.