Special Order Glasses for Tamanique Patients

During PazSalud’s recent joint optometry mission with the Lions Club of Bellingham, WA, our optometrists identified patients from Tamanique who require prescriptions that we could not fill from our supply of donated glasses.  In these cases, our mission team volunteers will take their prescriptions and have lenses specially made for them in the U.S. at no cost to the Salvadoran patient.

A very special thanks to Walman Optical who so generously made and donated the glasses and Ken Henderson whose efforts made it all possible for me to recently deliver customized, special-ordered glasses to some very needy patients.  Their new glasses enable them to see the world like they never have before and the smiles on their faces tell you all you need to know about how happy they are.

Optometry mission with the Lions

PazSalud just completed it's third and final mission of 2015.  Partnering with various U.S. Lions Clubs, we brought an optometry mission to Tamanique with the goal of helping the patients we weren't able to see during our February mission.  The Lions brought prescription, reading and sun glasses for the community and over the course of 4.5 days, we were able to provide thorough eye exams and glasses to 471 patients, far surpassing our projected patient totals. 

In addition, working with local physicians, we were able to provide 35 needy patients with referrals into the Salvadoran national health care system so they can seek treatment for special medical conditions our mission wasn't equipped to address.  Referrals may seem routine to those of us used to modern western health care but in El Salvador, it's a significant, often difficult to obtain step forward in treating a medical issue and one were proud and happy to provide.

Setting up glasses the day before the mission starts

A young patient with her mother

A volunteer interpreter working with a patient

A Lions volunteer discussing a patient referral with a Salvadoran doctor

Quilts to Comasagua

The Bellingham Central Lions Club donated some beautiful quilts to PazSalud and recently I was able to distribute them to deserving families in Comasagua.  Host to a PazSalud mission in 2009, Comasagua is a picturesque town set in the hills overlooking San Salvador and home to many people struggling to obtain life's basic amenities.  Although El Salvador’s climate is generally temperate to tropical, Comasagua is roughly 3,300 ft. above sea level and the evenings can get very cool and chilly.

PazSalud is committed to working with Salvadoran communities long after the mission teams have left and distributing blankets is one of the many ways we honor this commitment.  A very special 'thank you' to the Bellingham Central Lions Club who continue to give back to a land and a people dear to all our hearts.

Gifts of vision

Darren writes:

This past September PazSalud organized a joint eye mission in Estanzuelas with Dr. Ken Henderson of the Lions Club of Bellingham where we were thrilled to see 325 patients in two and a half days.  The goal of mission was to examine needy patients whom we were not able to see during our general mission in Estanzuelas the previous February.

During the September mission with the Lions, we saw some patients who required custom glasses to address their specific vision deficiencies.  Dr. Henderson and the Lions generously volunteered to take on this challenging and expensive task by having eyeglasses for 4 patients made in the U.S.  The Lions sent them to me during my visit to the U.S., I brought them back to El Salvador and recently had the pleasure of delivering the special optics to these very appreciative and deserving Salvadorans.

Lions' eye mission to Estanzuelas

Many more people in Estanzuelas are seeing well this week because of last week’s the Lions Club eye mission.  Lions from three different clubs – Bellingham, WA; Seattle, WA; and Armstrong, B.C. – were joined by Dr. Kelly Cochrane and his family from Kahlotus, WA to offer three days of vision testing and eyeglass fitting.  The group was led by Dr. Ken Henderson, a long-time friend and energizer for PazSalud.

They were joined by other good friends of PazSalud – Marvin Hernandez, our local organizer; interpreters Delmy, Lea, Yesenia and José; and six community volunteers from a local youth development organization, la Voz del Pueblo.  And of course Kathy Garcia and Darren Streff were there – as well as our beloved bus driver Hernan – to make sure that all went smoothly.

They saw a little over 300 patients – all of those we had not been able to see in the eye clinics last February plus a few more – and offered a bit of fun with one of the Lions teaching the children to make self-portraits.  Photos of all this great activity will come later!

La Casa Mia, a hotel/restaurant in Berlin, provided the housing and meals for our team, and they were wonderful.  This hotel, filled with historic photos and antiques, was a great find, and their meals and rooms got rave notices.

After the three days of clinics, the Lions went to San Salvador, where they gave donations of hearing aids and aids for the visually impaired to the San Salvador Club de Leones.  They visited the School for the Blind and the School for the Deaf, visited Panchimalco, shopped for Salvadoran crafts, and went to historic sites including the Hospital Divina Providencia where Monseñor Romero lived and was assassinated.  At the Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad they ate pizza and ice cream and quizzed Director Leslie Schuld about Salvadoran life.    

It was a busy and splendid week of work and learning.  This was Darren’s first time to make all the arrangements on his own, and he did a great job.  Thanks go to all involved in this successful mission.