Can you Read this NOW? - Part 3
Alongside the work of literacy training, is helping those who need the aid of eyeglasses to read . . . part 3 of this storyline began 2.5 years ago – when my church, RockPointe Church in Calgary, came to Niger to distribute eyeglasses. When they left Niger, they left behind the reading glasses which were not distributed. Last month, I learned of further need when my guard told me that two people in his village had broken eyeglasses and needed replacements. Neither of them could remember their prescription, so I headed out to his village one afternoon. I carried with me a few bags of varying prescriptions, anticipating that I would hand out two pairs of glasses. After a few minutes in the village though, it became apparent that word had spread that I was there with glasses.
My guard and I moved from his courtyard to the school close to his house – a building used for the literacy program of the women in the village. I set up the bags of glasses on a bench outside the building.
I also ended up walking to the toll booth as there were a few men working here that needed glasses as well – to help with their reading and writing of the toll payment tickets. All said, this first day in the village I handed out 12 pairs of glasses and there were still people coming at the time I had to leave.
The next week I headed to the village again, this time with more glasses and again I set up along the bench outside the school building.
This afternoon, I handed out 17 pairs of eyeglasses – including to two women who teach in the literacy program of this school.
Again, there were still people coming when it was time for me to leave. I also had discovered that there were a few people (3) who needed glasses for seeing distances – glasses which I did not have available. I sent off an e-mail back to my church, asking if it was possible to send me some glasses to meet this need. Last week, while attending a conference in Turkey, I received a suitcase from my church – inside were two large ziplock bags filled with glasses for seeing distance!!
Following the conference, we have had a visiting team come to Niger to see our ministry. It was my privilege to take two of the visitors back to my guard Karim’s village on Thursday to take part in the third eye glass distribution. This time, with glasses to meet both needs. I handed out a record total of 31 glasses . . . . about 20 of them being for those needing to see distances!
As I am not an eye doctor, the prescription test became very basic:
For those who were near-sighted, we looked into the distance to determine which glasses made a tree or the mountain clearer to see. I asked one sweet old lady if the glasses made the mountain over there clearer to see – her response: “There is a mountain over there?” We eventually found some glasses for her which made it possible for her to see the mountain. It was also a bit of a humorous question this day, as the dusty haze made the mountain a bit blurry to begin with.
A picture of the 'mountain' in the distance from where we stood:
For those who were far-sighted, they tried glasses on of varying strengths until we narrowed it down to determine with which glasses were the words in the book clearer to read. For those who cannot read – they looked around at people’s faces or at their watch to determine which glasses helped their vision.
The story of one young lady touched my heart:
She told of having headaches for the last 3 years – a headache which never fully leaves – and one that has affected her sight when the headache is intense. Always, she said, she has blurry vision.
In consultation with Dr. Ace from my team (via cell phone), we determined it is either one of two problems: migraine headaches which are affecting her vision, or near-sightedness which is causing the headaches. With no way of knowing which problem was the case for her, we went ahead with giving her glasses to see distance. After trying several pair on, she reported that the mountain was now clear. Dr. Ace also advised her to take a paracetmol (tylenol) when she felt the headache coming on and hopefully that would help reduce the intensity of it. I pray that her problem is her vision causing the headaches and that the glasses she received will improve her quality of life.
Thank you RockPointe Church for your gift to these people in Niger . . . because of your gift, there are many people in the village of Gorikeri who can now see better!!
Alongside the work of literacy training, is helping those who need the aid of eyeglasses to read . . . part 3 of this storyline began 2.5 years ago – when my church, RockPointe Church in Calgary, came to Niger to distribute eyeglasses. When they left Niger, they left behind the reading glasses which were not distributed. Last month, I learned of further need when my guard told me that two people in his village had broken eyeglasses and needed replacements. Neither of them could remember their prescription, so I headed out to his village one afternoon. I carried with me a few bags of varying prescriptions, anticipating that I would hand out two pairs of glasses. After a few minutes in the village though, it became apparent that word had spread that I was there with glasses.
My guard and I moved from his courtyard to the school close to his house – a building used for the literacy program of the women in the village. I set up the bags of glasses on a bench outside the building.
I also ended up walking to the toll booth as there were a few men working here that needed glasses as well – to help with their reading and writing of the toll payment tickets. All said, this first day in the village I handed out 12 pairs of glasses and there were still people coming at the time I had to leave.
The next week I headed to the village again, this time with more glasses and again I set up along the bench outside the school building.
This afternoon, I handed out 17 pairs of eyeglasses – including to two women who teach in the literacy program of this school.
Again, there were still people coming when it was time for me to leave. I also had discovered that there were a few people (3) who needed glasses for seeing distances – glasses which I did not have available. I sent off an e-mail back to my church, asking if it was possible to send me some glasses to meet this need. Last week, while attending a conference in Turkey, I received a suitcase from my church – inside were two large ziplock bags filled with glasses for seeing distance!!
Following the conference, we have had a visiting team come to Niger to see our ministry. It was my privilege to take two of the visitors back to my guard Karim’s village on Thursday to take part in the third eye glass distribution. This time, with glasses to meet both needs. I handed out a record total of 31 glasses . . . . about 20 of them being for those needing to see distances!
As I am not an eye doctor, the prescription test became very basic:
For those who were near-sighted, we looked into the distance to determine which glasses made a tree or the mountain clearer to see. I asked one sweet old lady if the glasses made the mountain over there clearer to see – her response: “There is a mountain over there?” We eventually found some glasses for her which made it possible for her to see the mountain. It was also a bit of a humorous question this day, as the dusty haze made the mountain a bit blurry to begin with.
A picture of the 'mountain' in the distance from where we stood:
For those who were far-sighted, they tried glasses on of varying strengths until we narrowed it down to determine with which glasses were the words in the book clearer to read. For those who cannot read – they looked around at people’s faces or at their watch to determine which glasses helped their vision.
The story of one young lady touched my heart:
She told of having headaches for the last 3 years – a headache which never fully leaves – and one that has affected her sight when the headache is intense. Always, she said, she has blurry vision.
In consultation with Dr. Ace from my team (via cell phone), we determined it is either one of two problems: migraine headaches which are affecting her vision, or near-sightedness which is causing the headaches. With no way of knowing which problem was the case for her, we went ahead with giving her glasses to see distance. After trying several pair on, she reported that the mountain was now clear. Dr. Ace also advised her to take a paracetmol (tylenol) when she felt the headache coming on and hopefully that would help reduce the intensity of it. I pray that her problem is her vision causing the headaches and that the glasses she received will improve her quality of life.
Thank you RockPointe Church for your gift to these people in Niger . . . because of your gift, there are many people in the village of Gorikeri who can now see better!!
1 comment:
Wow! That is so awesome! I personally have a handful of glasses sitting in a drawer. Maybe I can get some more together to send? We still have a project we are working on for you too, it's just been slow going!
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