Above Photo Compliments of 3rd year, Angela Han, FCO Haiti Mission Trip 2014
Bonjou Blogosphere,
Each year SCO’s Fellowship of Christian Optometrists organizes a week-long medical optometry mission trip, and this year I was fortunate to participate in the mission trip to Les Cayes, Haiti. I’m excited to share with you all my experience. Not only did the we, the student optometrists, provide full eye exams–diagnosing disease and treating conditions like dry eye syndrome and conjunctivitis, but we also provided each patient a free pair of eye glasses and sunglasses. Most importantly, we made it a priority to share the Christian faith with our patients. Organized through the Praying Pelicans Mission organization, our trip saw us serving Haiti’s most impoverished citizens in the mountains of Southern Haiti. While this has been a more than rewarding experience in both my education and spiritual journey, I also witnessed the true conditions of poverty and struggled with feeling helpless to provide sustainable change for the Haitians I served.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and it’s circumstances were further devastated following a 7.0 earthquake in January 2010. Haiti is a country of 10 million people, of which 40% live within the borders of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Dependent on international aid, much of Haiti seemed stuck with simply making ends meet day-to-day. Having travelled and lived abroad, I’m not immune to poverty–it’s something we see in the United States and in The Eye Center clinic daily as well– but nothing prepares you for the level of need and desperation that’s in Haiti. While it’s evident the Haitians are full of country pride and are among the most hospitable people I’ve met before, your heart breaks at knowing your efforts barely touch the greater organizational needs of that nation. My hope is that the health care my classmates and I were able to provide will help improve the lives of the patients we cared for, and I have to be satisfied in knowing the rest is in God’s hands.
This mission trip showed me the important role optometry plays in providing international aid, and I feel a greater spiritual calling to use my clinical skills to help people in need. I hope to provide optometric care to Haiti again, and in the meantime, I’m already looking forward to my next mission trip!
Bondje beni ou,
Amy