Oh Mexico

 Matt spent a week south of the boarder doing eye exams in Mexico. He had a wonderful time and had so many wonderful stories for us when he got home.  He was already saying, "When I go back next year..."

This is a little boy from the Mennonite colony who was basically blind. They were able to get him a pair of special order glasses help him see.  Matt said that with his severe astigmatism if he had waited a few more years before getting glasses he may not have ever been able to see well. 

These are a couple Mennonite brothers who also had very high prescriptions.   

Matt said that they sent all of the kids to him during the trip.  He must have some experience with children....

 They did some really good eating while they were there.  By the end of the week Matt had to loosen his belt a notch...

He got in really well with the cooks. They loved that he loved their food and were always offering him 2nds and 3rds.+

They were in a very rural area.  All of the people they saw needed eye care badly.  The week before the team arrived, several students went down and did exams in outlying communities to screen people and see if they needed treatment.  Those who needed care were sent to the clinic. They saw people on a first come first serve basis.  Every day there was a long line going out the door.  Matt said that he mostly did Kid's exams and then saw people to decide weather or not they needed cataract surgery. The day after their surgery he would see them again to check the healing progress.

 As a team they completed 193 Cataract surgeries and 9 Pterigiam surgeries, treated 80 dental patients with multiple procedures, performed procedures on 92 patients (Retina, Argon laser, yag laser), performed 15 general medicine cases, made 104 pair for glasses and gave patients 87 pair of reading glasses. Pretty good week.

 The clinic

 The cafeteria

 The last night there the locals had a huge barbeque for the team that came in.  This is a goat on a stick. Matt said this meal was SO good! He had like 5 servings.

 Grilled cactus.

 This was Matt's little casa.

 Th place they stayed at was right next to an apple orchard.

 bathrooms.

 The last morning Matt went walking around and found this pool and hot tub. He was a bit disappointed he hadn't found it earlier.

 Every time a team goes down (3 times a year) the members sign the cafeteria wall.  Matt wrote something along the lines of,

"Everybody keeps asking me when I'm coming back here.... when's the next barbeque?"

 We found you Anthony.

 The Optometrists

 The eye team.  Many of them worked in Surgery and in the glasses/fitting area.

Matt had so much fun conversing with the locals.  He said that a lot of the medical team kept to themselves, but he sure didn't.

These are some local kids who came to help translate and move people through the lines.  Matt said they were super awesome! (and pretty tall)

 This is Louis, he's guy who runs things down there.

They had local High School students come work as translators.  Each Optometrist was assigned one over the week. This is Helen. She was awesome. Since Matt didn't really need her to translate much for him he mostly had her work as his scribe. He said she did a great job.

 Snacks for those waiting.

Their first night in Mexico they ate at Louis' families' restaurant. 

 The lineup: waiting for their turn for cataract surgery.

The day they were all leaving all but 2 members of their team got sick. They think it must have been food poising. The locals were getting it too.  Luckily Matt got all of his throwing up over with before it was time to get on the plane.   Even with that though, he still said the food was AWESOME!

 When we all made it back home, Daddy told us about his adventures while we tasted some treats from the other side of the border.

They were all really yummy. I think my favorite were some little Mango candies he brought home.

We've been slowly working away at the stash.