Our Last Week: Finishing Strong

This has been our last full week of work here in Fiji.  It has been a very busy five days, as we examined 854 patients, more than we have ever seen in the past.  We went out to five different villages, examining adults in the community halls, and lot of children in the different schools.  It was a very hot week, and there was no air conditioning or fans in any of these villages, mostly because they are still without power since the cyclone 3 weeks ago.  

This is the road we took to some of the villages
this past week.  It was this spot that was
completely flooded over when we attempted
to go to these villages 2 days after the cyclone.

This is what the road looked like 3 weeks ago

When we got to the village, the man
(named "Api") who was hosting us this
day, showed us what was left of his
house following the bad cyclone.

Api put some tarps around the walls to help
keep the rain out until he can rebuild.

Api spent three days looking for all the parts
of his house and gathered them together so
that he can begin the rebuilding process.

Despite the severe damage to his home,
Api is still Happy!  He and his seven kids
and wife will have a home to live in, again.

This is the kitchen of another home where
they do an amazing job cooking and
baking over an open fire.

T

They shared some of their good baking,
buns & sqaures with us this one morning
before we began doing eye exams.
It's always a unique experience eating on
the floor with flies buzzing all around.

When we arrived at this school, we knew
it was going to be a busy day when we
were met by these 170 students
waiting for us to check their eyes.  

This kids are so happy as they sit on the floor
waiting for their turn to get their eyes checked

These kids were fortunate to have a bench
to sit on while waiting their turn.

These kids were all waiting at the door
for their turn...

Others were peaking through the windows

As is common, there were no chairs in this
community hall.  Everyone is happy and
comfortable sitting on the floor mats
while waiting for their turn.

This young girl was proudly wearing her
"Brownie" uniform today.

Don't you just want to hug this poor child?

It's always helpful to have a teacher provide
the names of the students as I checking them in

This is our good friend, Noa Seru, who was
helping us in this village school on this day.

This kids are so well behaved as they line
up both on the bench and against the wall.

We found this system to work well to keep
things moving quickly.  When one student
is finished, they just slide down the bench
for the next child to have their eye exam.

Although we see a lot of patients each day,
it's still one child at a time.

After some of the eye exams, it's always
fun to hi-five the kids.  They love it.

This Fijian family has 7 children, 3 of whom
are Albino.  Their white blonde hair and blue
eyes and light skin makes them really stand
 out here in Fiji.  All three of these Albino
children were found to need glasses, quite badly

This is a typical library for the schools, here

I had fun one day with these Fabulous
Five Girls who worked in the same room
we were doing exams. I kept giving them assignments
to write stories, and asked them lots of deep questions.
They just loved it and kept asking for more..

At recess, Rick had a blast entertaining the kids
teaching them his great dance moves

They really got into it!

At this one village community hall, they didn't have a single
chair, so we did all the eye exams standing up. This can be
quite a challenge when examining a 6' 7" man!  It turned out
that this whole village had taller men & ladies than we'd seen
in any previous village.  In fact, many of these tall men are on
some of the major sports teams here in Fiji.

With no air conditioning, we really work
up a sweat.  You can see Rick is soaking wet. 

When we return to our home each day, we would
immediately throw our clothes in the washing machine and have a refreshing cold shower

This nice man prepared a coconut for us to enjoy

They provided a grass tube for us to use
 as a straw to enjoy the coconut milk.

After drinking the milk, we then scraped
out the nice soft coconut flesh. 

It sure tasted great!

This 88 year old lady is actually the "Paramount Chief"
in the area, and was so thrilled with her new
glasses.  She really loved Rick when he told her
she looked ten years younger with her new glasses!

Ann & I feel so fortunate to have had this amazing Fiji experience over the past six months.  It's been a lot of hard work, often in less than favorable conditions at times, but we wouldn't have traded it for anything. The joy we receive from giving of ourselves and providing service to others far outweighs any sacrifice we have made in our lives for this humanitarian mission.  

We want to thank the Fijian people for their wonderful hospitality and Frank & Susan Stanford for all their guidance & assistance.  

We couldn't (and wouldn't) have done it without their constant help.  We have been blessed in so many ways, and have learned so much through this "once in a lifetime" experience.