Vision for All have arranged a trip to Nepal to give eye examinations and distribute free glasses to people who can't afford to buy such.
There are 5 volunteers on the trip with Eva as leader and Anne is one of two optometrists. Anne and one of the assistants Christel left the Landvetter Airport (Göteborg) October 13 at 16:10. They landed ahead of time in Doha at about 23:15 only to find that their connecting flight was going to be late. After spending the rest of the night at a hotel they left at 9:40. Arriving in the afternoon they spent more than an hour in the lineup waiting for visas and finally arrived at a rural hotel at 11 pm. |
In the afternoon they arrived in Jalbire (about 1200-1300 m altitude) where they will be working the next three days
You may well have noticed all the terraces in the google pictures. Rice is by far the most important crop in Nepal with more than 50% of the population working with rice during half of the year. |
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2019-10-15 - After breakfast the group was welcomed by the mayor and they each was was given a Tika (red mark on the forehead) which is a symbol of purity, and a shawl.
A symbol of worship and religious sign, the tika is considered the point at which creation began. Traditionally, the area between the eyebrows is said to be the sixth chakra, the Ajna, the seat of “concealed wisdom”. Applied in the center of the forehead close to the eyebrow, the tika rubs the Anja Chakra and thus is considered to be associated with the eye chakra. The tika is said to focus energy and increase concentration. It is also known to be the circle or dot around which the mandala is created; a spiritual symbol, a symbol of nirvana. The dot is meant to denote the center point for one’s spiritual destiny and serve as a medium for personal sanctification.” Today the group did eye examinations on 239 people and gave out more pairs of glasses. The oldest Anne examined was 100 years old.
Pictures to the right show people waiting and getting examinations. Here is a link to a newspaper article and a translation of it. |
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The large number of people wanting eye examinations and glasses eventually got inte a line.
Today 288 people had examinations and 311 pairs of glasses were given out. I have no information as to how far away people come from but at least one person came 2 hours by horse! The buses are not so fast, so at least 18 people that came 30 km from the west by buss had a three hour ride. |
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2019-10-17 - During their morning walk Anne saw among other things a) 2 builders shoveling sand int baskets which they carried up to a building to make cement, b) a women washing clothes in the river, and c) people brushing their teeth and washing the mornings dishes (pictures to the right).
Below are pictures of some people that were examined today and received glasses. The man helping the woman in green is Leela who was the main local helper and interpreter. |
Today 265 personer received eye examinations and 360 pairs of glasses were given out.
Tomorrow the group will leave at 6:30 am on 1 4-5 hour trip to their nest working place. |
2019-10-18 - After a long jeep ride on very bad roads the group finally arrived at the Everest Children Home in Sindupalchok 1500 m above sea level.
Here they have very luxurious accommodations where they can close their bedroom door and have a toalett that one sits on. In the lower left picture on the right are Chiring Tamang och Samila Tamang (not sisters), the groups interpreters gruppens local interpreters. |
2019-10-19 - After breakfast the lokal community had a opening ceremony for the group. A teacher gave a short talk and everyone received a flower necklace. för gruppen,
Today's activities where at a school which 106 children attended. It took 40 minutes for Anne and the two younger people in the picture to the right (with necklaces) walk from the school up to the nursery where they were staying. The one girl is French and studying in Nepal . She wrote notes for the people during the eye examinations. Today they did 226 examinations and gave out 271 pairs of glasses. |
In the lower picture to the left is Max sitting beside Anne. Anne is an assistent from Göteborg and the only male on the VFA team. The pictures of children are from the nursery where the group is staying. I |
2019-10-20 - Very telephone och internet contact today. The group has worked hard to day and performed 320 eye examinations and fitted 380 pair of glasses on individuals.
2019-10-21- Today was a busy day with 504 eye examinations, the last ones using flashlights for light. 540 pars of glasses were also fitted.
15-20 of those that have a cataract will be bused to a "surgical camp" that the Himalaya Cataract Project will have late in December. They will have a distance lens inopererat och reading glasses. |
Notice how tight the line-ups are.
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2019-10-24 - Today is Anne's last work day in Nepal. After a couple of hours in lineups at the airport she will be boarding a plane that should go 20:50. She'll get home on Friday morning and have a few hours to prepare for her meetings on Saturday as president of the western Swedish women's orienteering association. Today they have worked outside in Shantinagar one of the poorest areas in Kantnandu. They had lunch at the Golden spoon. 275 eye examinations were done today and 264 pairs of glasses were distributed. |
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