I don’t know why, but Wednesday always seems to be the hardest day of the week. Everyone is tired, some people recovering from sickness or just needing to rest, and emotions run a bit higher, due to all of the above and seemingly the hardest situations come through. But there are also many positives about the day and many smiling faces still. Today was even more special, because we got to the end the day with the BECAS celebration. So while there were many ups and downs and patience being tested, it ended on a high note.
Our day was scheduled as a half day due to the BECAS celebration so we did the best we could in optical to get through as many folks as possible. The majority of today seemed to be people mostly needing readers. We did have a truly difficult need in the vision clinic when a gentleman came in almost blind. He really wanted glasses to improve his vision and said his glasses were not working for him any more. He could not even see the largest letter on our vision screening test. When I scanned his eyes, the retinomax had a very hard time picking up a reading. Eventually we got one but it was such a high prescription that there was nothing in our system that could help and honestly, Im not sure they would have helped anyway. We spent some time talking with him and learned he was diabetic and had been untreated. He is on medication now but his vision is lost. I shared information with him about our medical clinic in February and encouraged him to come. We spent some time in prayer with him and then said our goodbyes. The team needed a minute to reset after that as emotions were a little high. It’s hard to watch sometimes the things that are so treatable in the USA and people here not having access. The next hour or so it was a little bit of a welcome respite as not a lot of people need prescription and most just readers, so there was a little time to breathe. Since it was a half day for us we packed up at around noon and headed back to the hotel to eat lunch and then clean up before the BECAS celebration.
We headed over to the church in the afternoon to attend the celebration of the BECAS kids and he 3 students graduating from the program. It was a really beautiful thing to watch all these kiddos enjoying the celebration and seeing the fruits of their labor as they worked hard in school to stay in the program. The BECAS program has been such a valuable thing to the community. Helping kids stay in school and helping to break cycles. It’s exciting to see and exciting to think of the possibilities for growth and additions to the program. I’m excited to see where it goes. The coordinators that help with all the kiddos are amazing and do such a good job. WE couldn’t do it without them!
Home visits were a little different okay as the families came to the church to receive their blessing baskets. They were very grateful. The home visits/BECAS crew spent time preparing food for the celebration also.
Construction had some time to exercise patience since they lost power and were unable to work. But they had some good opportunities to talk to community members and spend time in fellowship
It’s been a long day and everyone is tired. But tomorrow is our last work day which is crazy!
Time for rest!
Shelley
