Back with TWECS again

Well it's been 2 years since my last volunteer mission with Twecs so I thought it would be a good time to help out again. Last time it was Viet Nam, this time Philippines. Same part of the world but different countries and cultures. Both countries very appreciative and grateful for our efforts. After a long 14 hour flight and a safe landing our group of 20  headed out the doors of the Manila airport with our 12,000 pairs of eyewear in tow. Our destination was Olongapo, 3 hours away. By this time my nervousness and fears dissipated. We headed into activity right away, a meeting and reception with city officials and Mayor James Gordon Jr, lunch and introductions made us all feel welcomed. There was even a band on the steps of city hall. Sunday was still full of activity with a trip in the back of a dump truck (literally) to a jungle village to visit the indigenous 

Aeta tribe where we passed out clothing and gifts. We also had a wonderful lunch where we ate with our hands, you learn quickly. Slowly getting over our jet lag we were ready for action on Monday morning where we set up our clinic. 

 We saw over 450 people the first day and the numbers stayed the same or better for the week till today the 22 of Nov when we saw 705 people. Some of our boxes are empty but we have lots of glasses left and I suspect at the end it will be mission accomplished. A couple of highlights for me were a young person who was a + 18 that we managed to fit, and feeling her joy at our efforts to help her see better. We will also be sending her a couple of pairs of glasses from Canada when we get back. Another was a young boy who had just severely damaged his eye with fireworks. He was in danger of losing sight in one eye but with the medications we were able to provide he should make a full recovery. 

Today was also rewarding as a young person who hadn't seen properly in 10 years broke down in tears after he was fitted with glasses that gave him the gift of sight, needless to say tears flowed on the volunteer side as well. Our group of 20 seems to have gelled quite well. Doctors, opticians and lay people all working towards a common goal. I am grateful for being allowed to participate and I so look forward to helping again in the near future.

Rudy Komposch
TWECS Team member