Obrigado!

Obrigado!  Thank you!  ありがとうございます。 Tak!

Thank you to all of the mission team members from Brazil, United States, Japan, and Denmark for their "Service Above Self".  Together, we have served over 2000 people with eye care and dental care. 

A special thank you to Patricia and Alex Andrade for leading and over-seeing the mission in Brazil, US Team coordinator Connie Spark, Eye Team leader Dr. Amy Spotts, and Dental Team leader Dr. Robert Lawson-Smith from Denmark and Dr. Melissa Crognale - US Dental Team coordinator.

A Surprising Discovery - a Rotary Monument

We were pleasantly surprised to find a Rotary Monument at our hotel in Foz do Igaucu.  Apparently, the hotel was the site of a Rotary International gathering and many RI presidents planted Friendship Trees around the monument.

The Cultural Portion of the Mission

When we travel to another country to provide medical care, we also want to learn about the people, the culture, and the homeland of the people we are caring for.  We often take a few days to experience our host country after the medical portion of the mission.

After we finished in Jequintinhonha (affectionately named "J-Town" by the mission team members), we traveled to Foz do Iguacu for a few days to experience Iguazu Falls.  On Friday we toured the Brazilian side of the Falls....

and a Bird Park....

...and on Saturday we experienced the Falls from Argentina...

On Saturday evening, we enjoyed dinner and a show featuring dances and music samplings from various Latin America countries.

Before heading home on Sunday, we had a tour of the Itaipu Dam, the largest operating hydroelectric facility in the world and one of the 7 modern wonders of the world.

Mission Totals

In the 6 days of the mission, the Eye Team saw over 1500 patients, prescribing over 500 pairs of prescription glasses and dispensing hundreds of reading glasses and sunglasses.  We referred many older patients for cataract surgery or advanced glaucoma evaluations and treated patients for conjunctivitis, allergies, and dry eyes.

The Dental Team saw over 600 patients for which they performed extractions and fillings.

Day 6 of the Mission - Through the woods and Over the River...

The last day of the mission took us to a small river village named Sao Paulo.

We traveled west along the Jequintinhonha River about 45 minutes and then we had to leave the bus and take the team, equipment, and supplies across the river by ferry. The ferry was essentially a flat barge which could carry one vehicle and a few horses (or an entire Rotary mission team). As we crossed the river, the team discussed the possibility of the daily torrential downpours on our return trip in the late afternoon.

The river is about the width of the Susquenhanna. Once we arrived on the far bank, we had to trek, on foot,  uphill into and through the village for about a mile until we arrived at the school. With the sun shining and humidity still high, needless to say we were rather drenched and spent by the time we got to the school. Fortunately, our Brazilian army escorts took care of lugging all of our crates.

We had a very productive day seeing close to 300 patients in the eye clinic. The dental clinic was busy also. There were quite a few of the school children that were malingering (faking poor vision) to try to get glasses. We had to rely on our "magic glasses" - a pair of glasses with no prescription. For the most part, the docs know how a person should see by measuring the reflection in the eyes (retinoscopy). So when we see a minimal prescription and the child can't see the big E, then we put on the magic glasses. When they read all the way down to the bottom of the chart, we confirm our suspicions. We then ask the interpreter to tell them that they see well and don't need glasses and that we need to save our glasses for the people that really can't see.

  We were blessed to make the return trip across the river before the rain came (there were dark clouds on the horizon). We attended the Jequintinhonha Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday evening for dinner. It was supposed to start at 8:00 pm, but we were delayed prepping all of the crates for our return home (everything needs inventoried and documented for customs). The meeting started around 9:00 and after a lot of speeches and recognitions, dinner was served around 10:40 pm.

We break camp on Thursday and begin the "cultural" part of the trip as we will travel to the Iguacu Falls on the Argentina/Brazil border for a few days.

The Weather...

It has rained every day that we have been here.  I'm not talking drizzly rain, but serious torrential type rain.  Sometimes it has lasted a short while, like a 20 minute downpour today.  Sometimes it has gone on for hours and hours.  It usually rains later in the afternoon.

The Jequininhonha River is very wide and seems to absorb the water well.  There are signs that the river is flowing significantly higher now than it was when we first arrived, but there is no concerns of flooding in the town.

The temperature has been in the low 90's during the days and upper 70's at night, with very high humidity due to the all or the rain.

If It's Tuesday This Must Be Guaranilandia!

Today we loaded the bus again for another roadtrip.  This time we headed east into farm country - mainly cattle lands with white Brahmas standing up on the hills.  We traveled thirty minutes on the main road and then a few miles on a single lane dirt path into the farm village of Guaranilandia.

We set up in a surprisingly beautiful school.  The classrooms in this school were very well adorned with ABC's, lessons on weather and calendars, etc.

The dental team saw 100 patients today...their busiest day thus far.  The eye team saw around 280+ patients which included  the extra patients bussed in from Jequintinhonha from Saturday that we weren't able to finish. 

We also saw children from an orphanage in Aracuai.  On Sunday during our day off, we stopped  to look at a craft shop at the orphanage which is run by nuns.  The children were so adorable and we had noted at least four of them had significant inward eye turns (esotropia) which can sometimes be corrected or improved with glasses if the child is highly farsighted.  We expressed a desire to try to help these kids and arrangements were made to bring the children 3 hours to see us today.

Tomorrow is our last day of patient care before we head out for a little cultural experience at Iguacu Falls.

Just Another Manic Monday...

The fourth day of patient care on the mission started early with a 5:30 am breakfast and then loading all of the equipment and supplies onto the bus at 6 am.  We were in the seats and the crates were in the aisle.

We drove southwest along the Jequintinhonha River to the first bridge where we could cross over...about an hour away.  We crossed the river and drove into the mountains north of the river.  The mountains are more like large rolling hills (like the Allegheny's in PA) but with large granite outcroppings which soar out of the ground at random intervals.

Our trek took us 3 hours total with the last 45 minutes on a dirt road.  Our destination today was the mountain village of Estiva.  It is a village of several hundred residents.  The Eye Team and the non-Brazilian dental team made the trek.  The eye team set up in a school building.  We saw a nice mixture of kids and adults...about 150 total for the day.

While we were in Estiva, we learned that the Brazilian dental team back in the clinic in Jequintinhonha received a visit from the state or local health authorities which resulted in the credentials of all the doctors (dentists and optometrists) being reviewed.   The mayor of Jequintinhonha, a Rotarian, was able to resolve the situation.

After another 3 hour trip, partly through a torrential downpour, we returned to the hotel at 7pm.  Fortunately, we cleared the dirt road part of the journey before the rain started!

Thoughts and Prayers for Koji and the People of Japan

Our mission team members were relieved that Dr. Koji was able to make contact with his family back in Japan.  He reports that everyone is well.

Day 3 of the Mission

The third day was long and exhausting.  We were in a smaller, more confined, work area and we were attempting our best to get everyone seen before we leave for other locations next week.  We ended up working until 6:00 but we needed to stop with about 40 people remaining.  Arrangements are being made to bus those remaining people to one of the locations we will be at next week.

Because we "go on the road" on Monday, we needed to break down the clinic and box everything.  We finally got back to the hotel at 7:15.  We had a very enjoyable evening hosted by the local Rotarians which involved lots of barbecued meat, beverages, and singing outside by the pool deck at the hotel. ..finally called it a night at 1 AM. 

Today (Sunday) is an off day and we have rented a bus that will take us to 3 different communities to see some of the local culture and artists.

Smiles and Tears (of happiness)...

Observation from some of the Rotarians after the first day...

York East Rotarian Jin Jou Meighen commented that "now I can see why you go on these Rotary missions" as she observed the dispensing of a pair of reading glasses to a woman who hasn't been able to see to read.  She described how a woman just lit up with a big smile when she put the glasses on.

Mechanicburg North Rotarian Dr. Amy Spotts saw a patient that told her she had been prescribed bifocals but wasn't able to afford them.  When Dr. Amy told her that we would be able to provide her with the bifocals she needs, the woman began to cry.

This is what Rotary International Service is all about...changing lives.

Day 2 of the Mission

For the second day, we were set-up in the Rotary Building in Jequintinhonha.  We were greeted this morning by a line of "customers" stretching down the block.  Since everything was already set up we were able to begin seeing patients right at 8 am.

We are running like a well-oiled machine!  There are many wonderful young Brazilian Rotarians and Rotoactors helping as translators and it makes everything go so much smoother!  We are able to have a translator with every doctor and at the visual acuity and optical stations.  They are very much engaged and working as hard as we are.

Our goal today was to try to see 250 patients - we ended up seeing around 310 and still had time to break down the clinic to move to another location tomorrow.  We have to move next door to what looks like a school because the Rotary building is rented for a wedding reception tomorrow.

The current plan is to work tomorrow in Jequintinhonha and then have a day off on Sunday.  Next week we will move to a different location on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Day 1 of the Mission

The first 2 days of the mission are taking place in Jequintinhonha.  We walked 2 blocks up the street from the hotel to the Jequintinhonha Rotary Club building.  It is a lovely blue and yellow building they use for meetings.

Setting up the clinic took a little longer than expected because the poles that secure the phoropters (eyeglass checking things) to the wall pulled right out of the stucco.  We needed the local Rotarians to find appropriate anchors to hold the fairly heavy instruments in place.

Once we were rolling things moved smoothly.  We saw 184 patients in the eye clinic today including some people with significant spectacle needs  (able to see less than the big E) that had never had an eye examination.  I have learned how to say "one or two" in Portuguese!

In the afternoon thunderstorms rolled through, lasting for at least 4 hours with downpours so heavy that I could barely hear my patients over the roar of the rain.

My understanding is the dental mission team was a little slower as they are still trying to get the word out to the community about the dental services being offered.

We are in the same location tomorrow and should be able to see more patients since the clinic is already set up.   Pizza and beer tonight for dinner.  Cao!

The Journey to Brazil

Our trip began on Tuesday as we met around 11 am in York. After some final packing we loaded our 28 crates onto the bus and headed out at 1:30. The trip into NYC to JFK airport seemed kind of long, perhaps due to traffic but we got to the terminal around 6:00 pm. We moved the crates twice across the airport as the American Airlines personel couldn't agree if they should go as regular luggage or over-sized luggage (which would have required TSA to open up and inspect all 28 crates). Fortunately, they were able to go as regular luggage.

The flight was delayed an hour but we finally flew out of NYC around 11 pm and landed in Rio about 10:45 am this morning. Brazilian customs took about 3 hours as they decided to open and inspect and ask questions about every crate.

We then loaded a Brazillian Air Force bus to the AF base - only 15 minutes away. After another hour or so, it was on to the Air Force plane.  All  of the crates were loaded into the back and all the mission people (now teamed up with the Brazilians, Danes, and Dr. Koji from Japan that we met at the airport). The plane was the type of plane used for parachutists, so we sat along the sides on canvas netting seats for the 2 hour flight to Jequintinhonha.

We arrived at 6 pm on Wednesday (2 hours ahead of Pennsylvania time) to a warm reception from the local Rotarians and towns people.  The rural airstrip near the town is nestled into the sugarcane fields and there were many curious people standing out in the fields watching our Brazilian airforce plane land.

We settled into our hotel and rested a little and then enjoyed a dinner with the local Rotarians. Tomorrow....time to get to work.