Donating Eyejusters in South Sudan, Part Two

Once we felt confident with our vision testing skills we got to work testing some people in Wudu.

We started with the WHI team. They were drilling a well at a nearby school so we went over to check their vision. 

There aren't really a lot of buildings large enough or with good enough lighting to perform vision test indoors so we tested al fresco, using the LandCruiser as our wall. Fortunately the sky was cloudy that day so harsh sunlight was not a problem.

All the members of the WHI crew had pretty good vision and none of them needed glasses.

One of the children's mothers was around so we tested her as well. It was a little tricky because the children really wanted to be a part of it, and obviously we want the subject to do the test without others helping them.

You might be wondering why we didn't test any of the children that were hanging around us. Unfortunately the Eyejusters are not suitable for children under the age of twelve. 

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Once that was done we went over to the Darfurian refugees who live across the road from the compound. They were very eager to get their vision tested.

We set up two testing stations, one on each side of the LandCruiser. We tested as many as we could, until the sun set and no-one could see the charts anymore, regardless of their vision.

Now this part gets sad.

The last person I tested was a 20 year old man named Moses. He was very enthusiastic and all smiles.

I pointed to the top line of the distance vision chart. He said he couldn't see it. I tried encouraging him. he smiled, looked at the people standing around him and said "No, I can't see it".

Great....I was stuck with the joker of the group. This kid must be having fun at my expense, but I am tired and I just want to go back to the compound. I looked over at Lars to see if he had any suggestions.

We figured we'd let him try some glasses and go from there. He was still smiling. The Eyejusters helped him some, but not enough. He was able to see the symbols down to the 5th line. It's an improvement, but still far from good.

Then I looked over at Moses and I saw that he was really sad. That's when I realized that he was not trying to have a laugh at all. He had just been really hopeful. And now he was devastated.

I felt like such a cynical bitch for thinking the worst of him. It was really hard knowing we could not help him properly. He had waited patiently while the others were tested and helped. Then when it was finally his turn the magic stopped, and he would not get the help he had hoped for.

On the way home I cried.

Now why would I choose to tell this story? It's a sucky story that does not paint the prettiest picture of the author.

Well, I am hoping that there might still be some way to help him. The Eyejusters maximum negative power is 4,5. If anyone reading this has a pair of old glasses that they are not using anymore with a higher negative power, I would love to get my hands on them. I'll send them to the MHI crew and they can go over to Moses and try them out. Any pair that ends up not being used will be donated to an organization that works with used glasses. Let me know by commenting or writing an email to karmoie@karmoie.com.

Lots of love, K

Africa

Images curtesy of MHI , Wikipedia and Google Maps

In exactly one week we will be leaving for Africa. We are donating glasses to a project in South Sudan. We are partnering with Mobile Heath International (link here) and they have graciously invited us to stay with them as their guests in Kajo Keji in the state of Central Equatoria .

I have been to Africa once before. We went to Tanzania with Lars' parents for Christmas in 2005. It was an amazing experience and, I will admit, a very pampered trip. I expect this one will be a little different :)

L&K in the Serengeti, 2005

We are both so excited and very happy to get the chance to immerse ourselves in the donation aspect of Karmoie! 


For my part I must admit to being a bit nervous. I have not practiced medicine these past few years and I feel more than a bit rusty. I have pulled out my books and plan to take some time to sit down and brush up before we leave. I am not going there to work as a physician, but would nevertheless like to be as useful as I can. Our contact person at MHI kindly sent me a little overview of the medical conditions they are most commonly faced with. If any of our doctor friends (any ophthalmologists out there?) have some recommendations regarding textbooks I should look into, please leave a comment below. I need all the help I can get :)

We have topped up on our vaccines and started getting our gear ready, but as Lars and I haven't really been camping or backpacking a lot, I suspect we still have some shopping to do. Any advice?

Lots of love, K