A very good start to the clinic

I just got back from a great meal with the team at the food court across the street from Rosa Mystica in the Junction Shopping Center.  All the adults had Chinese food, while Jack and Ben chowed down on pizza.  We capped it off with Gelato from an Italian Ice Stand.  During dinner, we talked about all the wonderful things that had happened at the clinic today.

Our day had started out with a 6:30am breakfast at Rosa Mystica prepared by our friend Kennedy.  Pastor Kevin and his family had arrived late and it was a real joy to see they finally had made it to Nairobi late Sunday night.  Out of 500 on their original flight, they were in a group of only 60 that got out of London in the first wave.  Kennedy cooked eggs to order, there was sausage, toast and other cereals, etc. to choose from.  We were on our way to setup the clinic by 7:30. It was a wet morning, so we didn’t encounter nearly the foot traffic I had anticipated.  Upon arrival at the church, some of the volunteers retrieved our footlockers from the basement and Pastor Kevin and I began directing team members and volunteers alike in the ways that we would like things positioned and done during the clinic.

Bishop Bakari Kea arrived and we began the day with some music and a prayer by the Bishop.  We began seeing patients and by the end of the day 421 people had been treated for one eye malady or another.  14 people also either came to Christ or had asked for time with a pastor soon, including three Muslims.  I had one man come to me to let me know we had supplied him with successful cataract surgery on a previous trip and he wanted  us to finish up by doing the other eye.  It was a special moment for me.  I authorized the procedure and we are praying for a good outcome. Thank you, Jesus!

Diane spent time today working the eye chart and helped Tammy with reading glasses.  Elena and Jack started out with me training them on the autorefractor, only for our batteries to all go bad.  We had to rely on our doctors to do all distance glasses exams, which is a slower process.  Gloria will be bringing some more refractors and batteries tomorrow to fix this.  Elena worked with me on pulling lenses and also worked the eyechart and helped with reading glasses.  Jack was helpful all around.  Tammy was primarily doing reading glasses while Kevin and I jumped in wherever we were needed. 

It was one of the best first days I have been involved with, both in terms of numbers of patients served and in how quickly the clinic began running fairly smoothly compared to past ones.  This team has a light, fun and joyful vibe to it and I’m sure it rubs off on our patients and volunteers.

That’s about it for now, I will continue to post pictures and short snippets from my phone on Facebook and will follow-up later from home to join the two sets of material together into on coherent piece.  I’m going to call it an early night and hit the shower and go to bed.  I don’t expect to have any trouble sleeping!