Day Four:Last Day of Arcoverde Clinic

We are sorry it is so long between blogs, but the internet is not always available, or if so, it’s at a cost, and not very convenient. We have worked out a system now, so I will catch everyone up.
Thursday was our last day of week one clinic at Arcoverde.
Tanya from Canada gave the gift of sight to a local lady who worked at the woman’s clinic where the lens lab was housed. The woman had been a great help to us and took care of us while we worked the lab. She came to Tanya with a pair of broken pair of semi-rimless with a spare pair of semi-rimless frames. The lenses in the first pair had been sloppily glued inside, and she wanted them put into the 2nd pair. Tanya took both frames and the next morning she had been able to remove enough glue to put the lenses into the spare pair. When the woman received her ‘new’ glasses, she was very grateful, gave Tanya a huge hug and called the lens team ‘miracle workers’. According to Tanya, it was very rewarding to be able to make a difference in someone’s life despite not being at clinic.
On our last day, we had a steady work flow until around 2 PM when we closed the clinic and packed up to move on. We had to say goodbye to one of our gracious hosts Roberta and many of the wonderful FAV Ophthalmologists, which was very sad as they were such a tremendous help, were always kind and welcoming to us. Our last meal in Arcoverde was at the home of the woman who fed us home-cooked Brazilian dishes daily. As usual, the meal was fabulous, and her home was actually connected to the banquet hall where we ate. The meals usually consist of yucca, some tapioca products (flour used for many things), sun dried beef, corn cakes, breads, and incredible desserts.
That evening there was a street concert in the downtown area where we shopped and listened to the music while others danced. The plaza was very safe and the locals were very sweet and patient with us in our attempts to speak Portuguese.

Shout Outs:

Larry F.- (Larebear) misses Mamacita, Garebear and Joshy-poo.

Tanya D.- “Hi Jeff, I wish you could be a part of this great experience. I miss you and look forward to seeing you soon!”

Merlita H. – Hello Kathleen, Candice, Christa, Peggy ,Cindy and Juliana and everyone at Oakley! Miss you all! David, John and Alex, thank you for the cards and the sweet surprises!

‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world” Mahatma Gandhi