After weeks of organizing and communicating with the Flying Samaritans and Restoring Vision, our non-profit partner, our team had arranged to support an eye care clinic in San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico. On Friday, February 10th we packed up the van and headed 5 hours south to help at the monthly Flying Samaritans clinic.
(Photo Credit: Ravean Aaron)
We spent all day Saturday serving the local community. The Flying Samaritans typically host a health and dental clinic in conjunction with their eye care clinic. Due to the bad weather, the dental and health clinics were cancelled. Despite the conditions, dozens and dozens of women, men and children showed up in hopes of receiving eye care.
(Photo Credit: Gale Straub)
Dana and I, along with Flying Samaritans volunteers' Joe, Margie and Rick, and Restoring Vision volunteer Grecia examined individuals, administered vision exams and fitted those in need with prescription eyeglasses. We asked several of them how they felt to receive a pair of eyeglasses and see clearly.
One young girl who was about 13 years old said she was most excited to see the board in her classroom. She told us that she felt more confident and was excited to go to school now that she can see well.
A man in his late 60's walked into the clinic. After undergoing an eye exam, he was prescribed eyeglasses with -4.00 strength for distance. Having poor vision made it difficult for him to work. He told us that he was strong and wanted to find work. He was optimistic that he would now be able to.
One woman in her 50's told us that she had never learned to read or write. She had recently decided to enroll in adult classes so she could become literate. Upon beginning the classes, she noticed that she could not see the letters on the page to learn. She was fitted with a pair of +3.00 reading glasses and was ecstatic to see each individual letter on a page. She told us that she was most looking forward to learning how to write her name.
(Photo Credit: Ravean Aaron)
The patients' stories were incredibly moving and served as a powerful reminder of why SOLO Eyewear exists. In addition to being inspired by these individuals, we were also moved by the compassion and dedication of the Flying Samaritans team. Each month they travel to San Quintin from San Diego to help the local community by providing free health care, including vision and dental. They are doing incredible work and we felt privileged to work alongside them. Through our partnership with Restoring Vision, we were able to provide 150 pairs of eyeglasses to this specific clinic with over 2,000 more eyeglasses allocated to additional Flying Samaritans clinics.
(Photo Credit: Ravean Aaron)
Thank YOU for helping us put so many smiles on people's faces!