Each clinic day started with a 2-3 hour bus ride to the small village chosen for that day's work. This first small bus was later replaced by a large very comfortable one.
We would set up in a school or community center. This was the town hall in Yeghegnadzor.
Cow, dog and cat rummaging in the garbage in the town square at Tutu Tschoor, opposite the community center where we worked.
The first thing we would do would be to go into the building to see which rooms were best used for our purposes. We needed a place to check people in, a place for the nurse, exam room(s), dispensary, and somewhere to distribute aid.
A school where we did one clinic.
This room was not suitable because of holes in the floor...
...and in the ceiling.
We displaced this classroom of beautiful kids in order to use the room for the clinic.
Then we'd start moving furniture, sometimes with the help of the locals...
...and sometimes not. The mayor (far left) and his friends were just eager to get their eyes examined and their pictures taken.
After Linda decided which rooms were for the doctors, we had to cover the windows with black plastic to keep out the light.
Darkening the room.
People sometimes couldn't wait and there was a lot of milling around.
Sometimes crowd control was pretty hairy.
And sometimes not.
These kids were really being patient.
Anyone over 40 had blood pressure and blood sugar checked. Under 40 only if there was something suspicious.
We checked any glasses they had on my portable lensometer. Here I'm explaining to an optician (Lulu, a volunteer with another organization who was with us at 2 clinics) and an OD (Jim, from the Boston area) how to use it.
Each person was supposed to have visual acuity taken before they saw a doctor.
Sometimes they got back up and couldn't do everyone, so we had to check for ourselves.
The doctors were side by side, sometimes in very close quarters. Each doctor was supposed to have a translator and if there were family members along with the patient it sometimes got very crowded and noisy.
Here is our team leader checking the Mayor of another town where we got a lot more cooperation.
If the patient had a need for glasses we sent them to the dispensary. We had glasses that we had brought from the US, in various powers and they were laid out in trays, 4 or 5 in each power, so each patient could chose one they wanted.
Some patients had prescriptions that we didn't have ready-made, so we had them custom made by an optician in Yerevan, the capital. For example if they needed a lot of astigmatism correction, or needed a bifocal, that had to be made and then delivered to the patient later.
This 93 year old patient had us in stitches -- when she couldn't see the letters because her eyesight was so bad, she claimed they were "in Russian".
I loved seeing the children because they were almost always very cooperative...
...as well as beautiful.
A lot of the kids have esotropia. (Crossed eyes.)
This man had 10 diopters of myopia (nearsightedness) and had never had glasses (at age 24). I assured him and his father that he would now be able to drive.
I don't know what the story was with this old lady but I'm not sure she got anything she wanted.
We saw a lot of cataracts in older people, some of them legally blind because there is not good access to surgery. There's no "Medicare" or "Social Security" system, and most of them don't qualify for free surgery.
This old fellow was so happy he proposed to me!
And this lady was very honest: she didn't want her eyes examined, she just wanted clothes!
A very needy patient helped out by Dr. Jim.
This lady was happy with her new reading glasses.
This fellow was so grateful, he went home and brought back a bag of apples and walnuts.
Sometimes we would grab something for lunch whenever we could.
This lady was serving up fresh cooked fish.
One of the better toilet facilities. Some times we had "outhouses", which were actually better than the indoor toilets that didn't flush!
This is Dr. Irv Tanzman at the airport, picking up his luggage. Each of us was allowed to bring one carry-on and one checked suitcase. For our other checked luggage, we were assigned a box of aid which had been packed by the organizers. (Shh, don't tell the airlines!)
This is Rev. Joanne Hartunian, the principal organizer of the trip, handing out hats and scarves to the children.
I'm not sure where they got all the winter clothes...
....but there were a lot of boots too.
Trying on boots with Vanessa, one of our volunteers.
This little one doesn't want to give hers up.
At Tutu Tschoor, the girls did a dance choreography for us. They were very well rehearsed.
The littlest dancer -- what confidence!
Children in the schoolyard at Lernanist after we were finished.
Mostly boys, but some girls.
They were thrilled with the stickers I handed out.
The Professionals on the trip: 1 R.N., 7 O.D.s and one 4th year student.
The whole team of Americans.
Our translators, having fun. Mostly college age, or college bound, girls, and sometimes their English teachers. Their English was really good and we really enjoyed getting to know them.
