Thank you!!

Imagine putting a pair of glasses on a 7-year-old girl who had been forced to stop school because she could not see the blackboard. She has never worn glasses before and I held in my hand a pair of -8.50 (with a little bit of cylinder for astigmatism). I put the glasses on her face and first there was silence. She turned her head and looked around for what had seemed like a lifetime. She turned to her mother, and then she turned to me. I smiled at her, hoping that she would reciprocate, and slowly, her lips curled upwards; my heart melted. As we checked her visual acuity again with the glasses on, I gazed over to her mother, who looked like she was ready to cry. This little girl was now able to see, and she can return back to school.

That was my glory story on this trip, and that was the point where I fully understood why we were there. In my opinion, this trip was a success. I had laughed more in the past two and a half weeks than I normally would in two months. I would love to thank the entire team for being there for me throughout this life-changing trip. Most of all I would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Marina Roma-March for being the best leader I have ever worked with. Dr. Roma-March’s passion and dedication to TWECS cannot be described with words; we were all infected with her contagious compassion for the poorest of the poor. I will definitely be returning to future projects, as I am sitting here in Vancouver, having withdrawal symptoms already. Thank you again for all those who have followed the blog. I hope you got a taste of what we had experienced half way across the world, and hope that you can join the experience in future projects. 

Jessica Tu
TWECS Team Member

I will miss you all!