Danli Record Breaking Day for Optical

Didn't get around to the blog yesterday so catching up today!  Probably would not have been able to get on line anyway! Yesterday (Thursday), the optical team began seeing patients in Danli in the Danli Central Methodist Church.  We had a record breaking day and saw 104 patients.  This is my third year here and in that time we have never seen that many in one day, so it was awesome!  That many more people able to go home and read their bibles!  People actually say that to us about being able to finally read their bibles.  Makes it all worth it right there.  And the best part, we didn't to turn anyone away.   The rest of the team continued up in Escuapa as they still have plenty of patients to see.  A few of the team members also got to go on a home visit and visit a local school.  Apparently it ended up being quite the adventure as it rained and the van got stuck in the mud!  Took about 20 minutes to get it out and a couple of guys pushing it.  You never know what kind of conditions you are going to face on the roads in Escuapa, as they are simply made of dirt.  One team member even told a story of how they saw a yong boy tossing mud back on the road from the side after the rain.  That's the local road repair I guess!   People are always so friendly, welcoming and appreciative in Escuapa and Honduras in general.  There are cautions that we have to take when going out, but I have never felt unsafe here.  I will not miss the noise in Honduras though as there is a constant steady stream of music, or cars beeping etc etc.  There's even a rooster here who doesn't understand that he's supposed to be quite through the night.  He likes to practice his wake up call, all night long.   Friday, all the teams have a slightly shorter day, as we need to pack up everything we brought up the mountain and bring it back down again.  Some of the supplies, such as sewing materials etc, stay up there for the local church to continue with the sewing mission.  They use this mission to raise money for their church.  Optical works a little later, since we dont' have to drive down the mountain when working in Danli.  Today we saw 70 patients.  So total for the week 274 patients between Escuapa and Danli.  Adding that to last week in Tegucigalpa, we saw 664 patients total.  Pretty high numbers for the time here.  Glad we are able to help people see again! I learn more and more about the process and eyes while working in optical every year.  I never thought I would have knowledge about this stuff, but you never know where life is going to take you! I have yet to hear stories from the day in Escuapa as the other group is not back yet.  Will write about that tomorrow after we have had a chance to share our stories for the day.   Tomorrow, we have breakfast and head back to Tegucigalpa, where we do a little site seeing and then have our team dinner with all of our translators.  It's a celebration of the week and a way to thank our translators for all they do for us. Our jobs would actually be impossible without them.  We really need them to know how much they are loved and appreciated.   That's all for now.  Will update with the events of tomorrow before I head home on Sunday.  Blessings, Shelley  

Song testing someone for readers    

People waiting patiently to be seen in optical    

Testing distance