Eye tests at Korak village (left) and Kranget Island (right)
with her patients and pass what she learned on to Martijn so he could prepare which eye exam to do. Another of the volunteers, Nathan, who had never done any optometry work before, also became an invaluable assistant to Martijn due to the Tok Pisin words he had already mastered, along with his care, wit and rapport with the people. “We learned that we shouldn’t focus on what we can’t fix or what we can’t do, but what we can,” Martijn said. “Although difficult, I also tried to focus on the individual in front of me and
not on the other 100 patients waiting!” While Fleur was chatting to people, she really felt invited into their community. Some people shared deep stories about their family or about their struggles and asked her to sit and pray with them before they were seen by the doctor. A woman she will never forget is Gloria, a woman in her 40s who came to get her eyes checked and carry out a reading test, but ended up having a heart-to-heart personal chat with her and telling about her life as a single mother of
two boys, how important they were to her and how she valued people and love over material things. “I was surprised at her interest in me too, asking questions like, ‘Where are you from? What’s your family like?’,” Fleur said. Before leaving, Gloria said she wanted to give Fleur something and promised to come by the house later, but in the course of the busy day and seeing over 60 people she thought no more about it. However that night, after dinner with the pastor’s family they were staying with, someone
A shy boy at Malas village, which the YWAM team visited for the first time
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