AN ALL IN ONE PACKAGE

Hola amigo! My name is Jiani and I am a student from Vancouver, BC. This is my first mission trip and I was super excited to set foot in Peru for the first time. As a Pre-Optometry student, the opportunity to work alongside multiple optometrists and opticians in a developing country was precious. I love to travel, learn new things, and meet new people. This trip was an all in one package! 

It has been a few days since arriving at the Lima airport. Riding the bus across Lima is an interesting experience - from European style buildings, to roads filled with street vendors, to houses with no running water - we saw a wide spectrum of lifestyles in Lima. Waking up at 5:30am each day, our bus destinations were always to communities who needed eyecare. So far, we have seen over 1200 people! 

Our clinic today was set up at a school in Jicamarca. Schoolboys and girls in uniforms greeted us with big smiles as we arrived. We set up clinic: registration, visual acuity, optometrists stations, and dispensary. I bounced around registration, visual acuity, and dispensary, doing different tasks and learning different things. In my first year of university, I took a beginner Spanish class. At first, I was nervous about speaking Spanish again - the last time I had spoken Spanish was three years ago! As the days went by, my confidence grew and I was able to communicate my thoughts to Peruvian patients effectively. My favourite station was the dispensary, where I got to dispense some reading glasses. Helping people do close up work such as reading and sewing was rewarding as ever. 

The hugs, kisses, and the high fives I got were full of gratitude, love, and joy. The ability to join TWECS Peru was an honour, and I wish to return for more trips! 

Jiani Lin, Vancouver BC