Try as we might, we simply can’t find it within ourselves to sleep in a single day since setting off nearly three weeks ago (the day after new year’s never counts dad…you should know better). In retrospect I could’ve told you this would be the case considering the wild levels of energy one of us brings to the table, let alone two, but I was hoping she’d let me sleep in at least one freakin day!
Jussss kiddeeeeeng, the snoozer tried her best to beat the odds but I knew just how to foil her plan….Duhn duhn duhhh… Tell her they were about to stop serving breakfast and pull back the curtain to a gorgeous view of Tobacco Caye’s shoreline. Worked like a charm!
After a nice breakfast at the Reef’s End Café, the weather took a turn for the worst so we corralled around the coffee tables and Dr. Doyle and I attempted to trounce Roya and Aiden in a game of spades like we had the night prior (one of Roya’s selective omissions from the previous post.. funny how that happens, eh?). Shoulda check in with Roya and Aiden
first, cause they had an entirely differently game plan in mind.
Roasted. No smoked. Cooked? No, none of those will do…because The Docta and I were absolutely slaughtered! A near 7-0 skunking, we managed to pull two lucky games outta the old bag before they closed the curtain, but the 7-2 final score doesn’t do their victory justice. It pangs me to even write this, but they deserve the cred. For now I’m goin to follow the wise words of my old pal Rafiki when he said,“it doesn’t matta, it’s in de past!”
And so is the rest of that day, frankly. After the weather turned sour, we hopped on a boat back to the mainland and prepped for my first day in the clinic. Heyo!
Which brings us to Monday (9th) and Tuesday (10th) of January, 20chwelve.
Let me start by saying this. Had our journey only included the last two days it would have been worth it. Again, I’m stuck wishing for more potency in my descriptive capabilities, because I have been truly floored on all levels of three core senses. Let’s start with, you guessed it, what I saw with my own two eyes.
Love. These students, the doctors that came along for the ride and the people they served all deserve the world for their compassion and the love they put on display for everyone that touched this clinic over the past two days…and I’ve got the pics to prove it (coming soon!). Both days were spent in the blistering heat, inside poorly ventilated concrete buildings/ovens that we often shared with many an insect. But had you taken a look inside, you’d think we were throwing a surprise birthday party for a bunch of over caffeinated soon to be optos, seasoned docs and Belize’s finest. It was like everyone had been one big happy family for ages. Whether it was the students giving out hugs to their patients, the doctors running their tails off to support the young grads in their efforts, or the friendly Belizean folk that waited in line for over two hours in aforementioned blazing sun without so much as a single complaint. Kids included.
Now for what I heard.
Nothing but the sound of genuine souls. Sounds odd, but hear me out. One might think after 4 days of 8 hour sessions everyone would be washed up, tired, even downright crabby at times, but one would be wrong. The entire VOSH team was outwardly passionate in their delivery of optic care, from the way they spoke with patients to the way they held their hands as they carefully escorted them (elderly and child alike) to the BIO stations. And you know how they say you find someone’s true self behind closed doors? Well I did, and there wasn’t the slightest shedding of character by ANY one here. Not a once. I was inspired then and I am now as I write this post from my bed. And my hats off to the people of Belize. For all the hardships many of these patients live with, ones we can’t even begin to understand, they we sincerely grateful and let it be known. And when they couldn’t say it, they shared it with their smiles and their hugs.
And finally, for how I felt.
This one is tough to write and you’re lucky Roya is asleep next to me as I do because I would have cut this off at the last paragraph if not…can’t let her to see the slightest tear well up in my eye! So here it goes.
I’ve never been around this level of poverty. And don’t get me wrong, I know its worse in other parts of the world, but I really can’t thank my parents enough for bringing me up in the home they did; with the love they’ve given and I know they will continue to give for the rest of their lives. And for giving me the confidence to say that abso9lute certainty. I know these words speak to the way Roya feels for her family too.
We saw a little boy who came to the clinic yesterday, maybe 7, wearing his favorite hand me down Michael Jordan’s that were probably older than he was. His eye was swollen and he was having trouble seeing. His mother had kicked him in the face while he was on the ground.
But behind those eyes was a wonderful little man that this world is going to be proud of. How can I know? I’ll tell you.
Because that could have been me. Or Matthew. Or Amir. And yet I can’t say that at his age I would have had the courage to march down to a clinic on my own and have the maturity to give my doctor a hug on the way out with nothing more than a smile and shy wave goodbye.
Alright, I’ll cheer it up, but you can get the point. There were multiple tearjerkers along the way.
We spent today’s session at an elementary school and for this one, I’m actually going to let the pictures do the talking because I can’t even pretend to compete with the message they’ll send. We’ll be sure to email everyone once they go up upon our return. I promise you, they pack the punch that my words lack.
This is likely my final post and there is none more fitting for this.
To Jo and Farhad, you two have raised a very special young lady. I am very proud to have spent these days by her side.
G’night.
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