"Good Morning"

It’s the end of our first week here in Olongapo.  Whew, that went fast!  It’s hard to believe that we’ve seen over 2500 patients over the first five days of clinic.  Although I’ve been able to work in a few areas of the clinic, most of my time has been spent in Registration.  This is the first area where the patients gather to get in line to have their eyes  checked for health and acuity.  Sometimes they’ve been waiting in line for quite a while so I try to say “good morning” with a smile and get the process started on a positive note.  Spending a few minutes with each patient has taught me a lot about the Philippine people.  They are a very respectful and appreciative group.   They treat their seniors with care and don’t mind when an elderly lady is placed at the front of the line so she doesn’t have to wait too much longer in the heat.  Sometimes they are shy and timid, sometimes they want to talk and talk.  Today (day 5), I had a little girl who was being registered by her mother to be seen by the doctor.  This little girl was full of hugs for me at registration and then throughout her time at the clinic, she managed to find me and hug me four more times. 

It felt great since some of the children seem to be a little wary of the blue eyed, blond haired lady.  Maybe it has helped that I’m now giving out lollipops to the children!

We have been very fortunate to have the assistance of some fabulous nurses who have acted as our translators.  They help us to get the information that we need about the patients—sometimes being very funny too.  Donna likes to find out about  the patients’ vision by asking them if they can see how beautiful she is!  Donna, Princess, Elaine, Cornelio and Jan have helped to keep the registration process running smoothly and enabling us to continually increase the number of patients that we allow into the clinic.  They all bring a smile to the table every day!

We hope that the Registration process provides the local villagers who have come to the clinic with a positive first impression.  Unfortunately, it is the first step in what can end up being a very long day for them.  If we can make that first step a little bit easier, then perhaps the rest of the journey won’t seem too bad either.  As for my journey, this trip is showing me the good that comes out of kindnesses offered to others.  

Sue Kennedy

TWECS team member