Donating Eyejusters in South Sudan, Part Three

Mobile Health International is an outreach program. Every week they travel to a nearby village, set up camp for a few days and provide medical aid to that community. During our stay in South Sudan we got to come along for an outreach to the village of Pure.

Even though Pure is not that far away from the EAM compound in terms of distance, it feels like a long drive to get there. There are not many paved roads in Kajo Keji (in fact, I don't know if there are any at all) and the dirt roads get pretty beat up by the rain.

Once we got to Pure we looked to find a suitable spot to set up the testing stations. We still had no walls and no roof. So we decided once again to stick the distance vision charts to the Landcruiser and to place a chair under the shade of  a tree.

Kristen, Lars and I tested people's vision for two days. MHI and WHI staff alternated between providing medical aid and translating and vision testing. We got to test a lot of people and to dispense a good number of glasses. We saw a lot of elderly people as many of the younger adults had gone to the market to prepare for South Sudan's first independence day.

My fondest memory is of testing an 18 year old mother. Her distance vision was good, but her near vision was terrible. She could not even see the first line of the near vision chart. It is hard for me to imagine how incredibly inconvenient so many everyday tasks must be for her. Cooking safely, sewing, examining her baby up close.

Singing a mix of French and Norwegian children's songs to keep baby girl happy while her mother was getting tested

We had her try on some positive power Eyejusters. The improvement was impressive! She was able to see clearly all the way down to the 11th line. And to see her baby clearly up close for the first time.

We had such a great time in Pure! We got to move way out of our comfort zone in terms of modern commodities and that is a very good thing. The camp was very nicely set up but I won't pretend that it a comfortable stay. Roughing it is, well, a little rough. Especially for camping novices such as ourselves :) I am so happy and grateful for this experience. The MHI and WHI crew were simply amazing.

Lots of love, K

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. 

***

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

Cory

Cory, Havana

As a child I really wanted glasses. I tried reading in the dark, because my mom said it was bad for my eyes. Clearly, I was not a very smart kid.

So for fun I would try on my dad's glasses. And sometimes my Farmor's glasses. This was back in the eighties and they sported these big, kinda square frames. They hurt my eyes so I couldn't keep them on for very long, but I loved wearing them. They made me feel smart and grown up.

Cory, Black

The "Cory" frames draw their name from the character of Corrado Soprano. He sports some amazing retro-fabulous-grandpa-chic spectacles. I can totally dig it :)

Cory, Forest

Whilst I do love those grandpa frames I find that they can sometimes be a little sad looking. So I worked on cheering them up to make them slightly more current.

Cory, Berry

Back in 2011 while I was drawing them I really visualized them as unisex. No one believed it. Everyone said they were only for the ladies. When we got the samples a few months ago I was finally proven right. Lars loves them and wears them all the time. I was right. And most importantly Lars was proven wrong :) They look so great on both men and women. They are quite big frames so they work best on people with larger faces.

Lars wearing Cory in Black

The "Cory" is available in four colors:
- Black
- Havana
- Forest
- Berry

Lots of love, K

Holly

Holly, Black

These frames have a story, a long one, so brace yourself. Or don't bother reading and just enjoy the pretty pictures :)

I love makeup. I don't wear makeup every day, because I am lazy and I often work from home. But I never feel really fabulous without it. I know people who do. I envy them. I have tried to become one of them, thinking that confidence is all the makeup one really needs. Mirrors, shop windows and pictures have cruelly made me realize that it is just not possible for me.

Now, I am aware that I sound like I am being tough on myself to fish for compliments - and I do like me some compliments - but I have a point. Makeup makes me feel amazing. As some of you may know, I am the proud mommy of the world's greatest dog Sarah. I also live in a city, where there are people in the streets. I therefore have to present my face to the world pretty much every day. With or without makeup.

Sunglasses save the day :) The right ones make me feel pretty darn good about myself, actually they make me feel like a movie star.

The movie star look :)

Holly, Havana

The "Holly" frame is inspired by makeup and movie stars. By winged eyeliner and the beautiful Holly Golightly/Audrey Hepburn having breakfast while looking through the Tiffany's window (even though they don't look at all like the frames she wears in that scene). And then I mixed in a little hint of old Cadillac fins.

Sweet ride :)

I also did not own a pair of cat-eye sunglasses, and I felt that I was due for a pair. So here they are, the sunglasses that make me feel like a movie star.

Holly, Berry

The "Holly" is available in
- Black
- Havana
- Berry: a multilayered deep red

Lots of love, K

Holly, Black

Buddy

Buddy, Midnight

I wanted to create frames that would make a strong style statement. "Updated vintage" was what I was aiming for. I was thinking of the people who made eyewear look really cool. People you might not even recognize if they took off their glasses. I thought of how some strong frames can dress up a face for the stage.


Buddy Holly came to mind. His thick, vintage - well back then I guess they were new - frames. 

Looking awesome

I did not look at a single picture of Buddy Holly until the first drawings were nearly done, and when I finally did I realized that my frames really didn't look that similar to his... 

By then the name "Buddy" felt so right for the frames that I could not bring myself to change it. Also, Lars and I have been scuba diving a few times and we love it. The "Buddy" name also refers to the Buddy system in scuba diving where two divers pair up and watch out for each other. I think that is really nice, and it is kind of what the Karmoie concept is all about.

I still kept the style in line with my original drawings, although they have been through many rounds of adjustments to get a comfortable fit.

Buddy, Havana

In the beginning, when they were still on the drawing board, I considered these frames to be very masculine, because of the sharp, thick brow. In the end I am very pleased that they turned out to be quite unisex. I wear the Midnight color often, and whilst they do add some edge to an outfit, I don't feel that they make me look any less feminine. That's not to say that they are any less sharp on a man. My cousin Carl looks so good in them!

My cousin Carl wearing Buddy Black and looking like a rock star

Buddy, Moss

I had wanted a pair of navy sunglasses for a while, but never found the right pair. So I couldn't create my own collection of frames without indulging myself ;)

Me :) Wearing Buddy Midnight

Buddy Midnight

"Buddy" is available in four colors:
- Black
- Havana
- Midnight

- Moss

Lots of love, K

Buddy, Black

One

One, Black

"One" was the first frame I designed. Hence the name :)

I started drawing in October of 2010. At the time we had not told anyone about what we were doing (well, our office is on the same floor as my dad's office and we don't have a door, so he kinda figured we were up to something eyewear-related, but we had not officially told him). Everything was new, unfamiliar and intimidating.


Looking back I think we were quite brave, because we knew absolutely nothing about the eyewear industry. Perhaps we wouldn't have gotten into this if we did... We are still riding on a leap of faith so I guess we are just as crazy today.


The situation we were in, deciding to stop and start over, and building our own business from scratch must have manifested itself in what I was feeling creatively (blah! this sounds so self indulgent... and I suppose it was).  


I remember wanting to create a very basic, no-fuss frame. To me "One" is a sort of blank canvas, a new beginning. It holds a very special place in my heart :)

One, Beach

The first drawings probably don't look very much like the final product in terms of dimensions and angles but I would like to think that the feeling is the same.

One, Forest

As you can see there are very few bells and whistles on this frame. There's our logo on the inside and the two circles on the outside of the left temple and the wood-like finish on both temples. Keeping it clean.

One, Havana

"One" is a unisex frame, available in two sizes, Small and Large. 


"One Large" is available in four colors:

- Black

- Havana: a rich brown tortoise shell effect

- Beach: a light, high-contrast tortoise shell

- Forest: a soft multilayered brown

One, Acorn

"One Small" is available in four colors:

- Black

- Acorn: a rich brown tortoise shell effect, similar to Havana, but a little more reddish in color and the pattern is a bit more dense

- Beach: a light, high-contrast tortoise shell

- Forest: a soft multilayered brown


Well, there you have it. That's the story behind the first frames we created. I will probably be making a few posts like this one. One for every style.


Lots of love, K