A BEAUTIFUL ENDING.........the Rainbow

Friday November 8 was our last clinic day. It was a bitter sweet day.  We saw 585 patients, half of them were children, the youngest being 2years old and the oldest being 95 years old.  The best thing happened today and for me it was very poignant.  We had a 2 year old boy who was found to be very near sighted (myopia).  He cried throughout the whole time no matter what treats we presented him with; but once the glasses were put on, he stopped crying immediately.  Dr. Katherine McKay, watched him move his eyes around the room with awe.  Without glasses this little 2 year old would have developed a condition called Ambylopia and with severe myopia, learning at school is very difficult because you CANNOT SEE TO LEARN.  Often times children with this condition simply drop out of school. 
At the end of the day, 5 hours later, we packed our 18 boxes into the bus. As our bus slowly traveled down the narrow gravel roads of this little Andean village, a woman opened the door of her home to wave to our team in the bus.  A few seconds later, out pops this 2 year old boy, smiling and waving at us with the NEW GLASSES!! we gave him at the clinic.

And I couldn't help but think....this is what it's all about.  For me it was a sign, whatever you may believe it to be, but in the end it was for me a rainbow.  That, despite all the trials and tribulations that we went throughout for the last 3 months to make this project happen, it was a sign that goodness does prevail.  
 In 7 clinic days with 36 hours of bus riding 2000 km through the Andean, Amazonian and Coastal region of Ecuador, our team served 3386 patients and provided 2235 pairs of glasses. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. 
Marina Roma-March

Dr. Katherine McKay is thrilled to see her 2 year old patient still wearing his glasses.
It was the perfect ending for the project.