In September
2014, I made the decision to leave my busy optometric practice for a six month
period to go to the country of Fiji with my wife (Ann) to provide humanitarian
eye exams and glasses, starting in October 2015. I figured that this would not only be an
exciting adventure, but most importantly, it would be a small way I could pay
back to those needy people in the world for the successful practice I’ve been
blessed with all these years.
To help
prepare for this trip, Ann & I went on a 10 day trip with the charitable
group, “Canadian Vision Care” (CVC), to Jamaica in January 2015 to help provide
free eye care and glasses to the needy in that country. It gave us a chance to get oriented on how we
can best do things in Fiji when we go.
We really enjoyed the experience, and came to love the people there. It gave us just a small flavor of the joy
that comes from helping others.
It’s been a
busy year of preparation to make this dream a reality. Different staff and doctors have been trained
to take over various responsibilities in my absence. A new doctor, Dr. Craig, was hired to take my
place for the time I will be away. All
kinds of permits and legal paperwork have been completed. Arrangements for different kinds of portable eye
testing equipment and several different kinds of glasses, have been made. I was able to secure 6000 donated used
glasses from the Lion’s Club. I would
also like to thank my patients who have donated their old used glasses, as
well. We were able to collect over 1000
glasses from all of you. You can feel
good knowing that you helped provide the gift of sight to people who would
normally not have the opportunity to receive an eye exam and glasses.
In early September, I was
able to drop off 16 boxes containing 7000 used glasses, to be shipped by boat
over to Fiji. It will take about 5 weeks
for the glasses to travel across the ocean to Fiji, which is about the same
time we will arrive there.
We are looking
forward to the opportunity of matching people, in the most remote parts of Fiji, to the closest prescription
glasses from our large inventory of used glasses to provide them the gift of sight
