All the Way to the Moon and Back

Today was a great day. Our hosts took us to some amazing places and we had the chance to see things I could never have imagined.

We went to the town of San Pedro and had a chance to tour the local archeological museum and learn about the history and the culture of the area. They had just recently removed some of the mummified remains that had been on display here to be more respectful to the discendants. It was very cool to learn about the culture and the history of the area.

We then had a traditional lunch on one of the local restaurants and were off to see another very unique thing. An ancient town that had been abandoned and swallowed by the desert. It is currently being excavated and so were were able to see some of the buildings as they were unearthed.

Once that was finished we had a chance to see more of San Pedro and do some shopping (A special thanks to our student volunteers, Natalie and Jose. They have been babysitting me as I attempt to speak Spanish and learn more about the country. They are truly Rock Stars!). There was something for everyone (and yes Angie and Nathan, I picked up several things for you). The shops were cool and the items were amazing. They were all handmade and the craftsman were, in many cases, right there!

Finally we went to ¨The Valley of the Moon¨. As my Team Member, Cyn Boulton (Hello to Chris and Lara. Much love is coming your way from Calama). The area is incredible. As the sun comes down and hits the salt in the rock it is a sea of color. As Cyn said, it is amazing and was everything we were told and more. It is like you have been taken from the Earth and transported to another planet. In fact, NASA has used the are for training for moon landings.

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone back at home and in the CSC. To my Target and CSC friends participating in the Recycle Challenge... keep up the good work as you really are a huge part of it all. Without quality glasses here, nothing can happen. Thanks for taking part.

Dust in the Wind

Good morning

So I told you a little about the tours we took, but I want to get back to clinic stories for a moment. One of our my fellow CSC friends was telling me about some of his experiences in clinic over the past few days and had some great stories to share. After a few moments trying to remember the best he wanted to share. Brian Michel (hi to Patty and much love) told me about his time in dispense and just how appreciative the people are and how many hugs he has received in his time here. While he didn't have a single story he wanted to share, he talked most about the children. When you dispense to the kids it just pulls at your heart!

Another story from clinic comes from one of our docs. Sheila Chamberlin (Hi to Kendall and Hercules! Stay safe and keep the grass short) told me about a couple that came through. They were an older couple and somehow the wife lost her paperwork through the day and ended up waiting for several hours. As she talked with her, she realized that while she needed bifocals, all she really wanted was to be able to see to be able to do her needlepoint. Sheila went and grabbed a pair of +4 readers and put them on her. The smile was amazing. The wife cried... the husband cried... Sheila cried. It was just one of those moments.


One of the student doctors was telling us about how powerful the trip has been for her. Niki Henriksen (Hi to everyone back at home and at IOC) was sharing how the entire trip has been amazing. Her most powerful experience was the first one. When we entered the base on the first day, there were hundreds of people lined up to get glasses. As we went by they cheered for us like we were rock stars. It was crazy. Niki was moved to the point of having to wipe tears from her eyes and it just powers you to give even more.

While there are more to share, we are getting ready to head out so thanks for reading and we will share more later!

Touring Chile

Well, today we spent the day touring the area and got to see some amazing things. I am going to be short and without pics for now (I have added them now).

We toured Chiu Chiu today and it was very cool. Good representation of the desert towns of the area with nice shops for the American tourists. Many of us purchased hats, shirts, socks, seaters, scarves, etc for our families. All handmade and very wonderful.

We then toured a lake... that´s right, a lake in the desert. Very wild to see. It is speculated that a meteor struck and caused an underground river to surface, but no one is certain.

We then toured some ruins. Lasana is a small town with a fort made of stone. It is many stories high and really amazing.

Some of us went into the square in Calama and saw a tradition religious dance and did more shopping. Some of the volunteers took us around and were really great. Now it is off to dinner and then to bed.

More to come Sunday! Thanks for reading.

Blog Happy in Calama

So, it is Saturday morning and I have been a little blog happy in the last 12 hours. Two posts last night and one this morning! So, we are in the hotel lobby sucking up some free wi-fi and talking about the great stories from the day before. We are going to head out on a tour of a, Chiu-Chiu (Choo-Choo), small traditional Chilean town around 10, but until then, lets get to the stories.

Yesterday, was great as I said before. One of the docs, Michael Siebert, has been great with his camera and his heart. He took some time during one of the lulls and went around to take pictures of the recipients and the volunteers. He ended up lending a hand all around the clinic, but when he ended up in dispense he met a wonderful older woman that just lifted his soul. She was adorable and so gracious, he couldn't help but snap the picture you see here.

Another Team Member, Emma Horn, had one of those Mission Magic moments yesterday. She had been putting off bringing her husband Frank's (Hi Frank! Emma sends her love) glasses to dispense on a mission (she has been on about 736) and brought them this time. Shawn Deckert (fellow Target guy), had just read the Rx on the glasses for her. As she mentioned to Dr. Mike (from the above paragraph) that she had them with her, he happened to have in his hands the paper for a recipient that had a perfect match. While the pair he was about to give them was good, this was exact! Talk about timing! Emma had the chance to talk with the man and share what the glasses meant to her. He was so appreciative and sweet. Emma, what a great story.

Jammin Jamie Hall had another great story from a few days ago. (BTW, Courney, Salena, Don, Forrest... Jamie says hi) She and Dr. Michael (why is he in all these stories) found glasses for a patient with -10 OU Rx. They were brand new glasses with AR, just perfect. Dr. Mike found the patient and came to Jamie to see if we could find a match. Jamie was able to find a PERFECT match (she is the Queen of IMS). Michael dispensed them right on the spot. With the challenge of finding good matches, it was sooooooo amazing to find something so close and so wonderful.

Well, thats it for now. We will try to update later today if not more!. Thanks for reading and stay classy.

Mostly Tim Sharing His Day

On Friday I had the chance to spend the day in dispense. We’ve talked a little bit about what that is, but you can’t describe it until you experience it. The reality is this is the place where people talk about Mission Magic. It is where you see the smiles on the faces as they see the world for the first time in years. There were so many people that I encountered that warmed my heart and showed me the true meaning of joy that it is hard to relay here. Also, our local volunteers were amazing. They spend hours and hours translating my non-Spanish to the recipients and helping in every way possible. Most of them are local students that are missing school to help. When I talk to them I am blown away by the generosity and willingness to give of themselves.

As I am riding on a buss and typing on someone elses lap, I will be quick. It is hard for me to pick one story from my day as there are just so many. I could tell you about the laughs we had as I attempted to pronounce any of the names in Spanish and the belly-laughs of the recipients as they attempted to understand me. I could tell you about the people that had waited for hours and had lost their Rx information and I worked to rush through the system to make sure they received glasses before the clinic shut down and how greatful they were. I could tell you about the gentleman that came through that told me after he put on his glasses that this was the first time he had read a paper on his own in more than 15 years.

Instead I think I will tell you about the kids. They are so… so hard to describe. In so many ways they make me miss my son Nate. I think of how he wears glasses and how we would not even know he needs them if it weren’t for working for Luxottica. We are so blessed to work for a company that makes that possible and for a company that makes this experience possible.

The children simply make me realize why we are here. One in particular comes to my mind. She came to the dispensing area and I pulled her glasses and, of course, mispronounce her name. After the crowd laughed and I bowed for entertaining them, she came to the front and I fitted the glasses for her. Immediately, I knew there was an issue. Through our great translator, Paula, I found that she could not see anything with the glasses on, but could “sort of see” with them on. After talking with her and her mother, I found that she had not been able to understand the doctor when he was performing the exam and so her Rx was much higher than it should have been. I grabbed the nearest doc. It happened to be Dr. Ron Spalter and he was able to work with her to revisit her Rx. He found that she was way off! We got her a great new pair of glasses and her smile… I can’t even describe how wonderful it made me feel.

I will work to share more stories in the AM. Thanks for reading and know that we were all safe and sound and that we will have wonderful stories to share.

Oh… I should mention throw a quick hello the Target Optical team from Eric, Tim and Shawn. We thank you all for making this happen and will need to share with you the story of Eric and his vocal stylings!

I Have Seen

Today was another great day. We saw almost 2450 people and had so many amazing experiences it is hard to even capture all of the warmth and joy. While I miss my wife and son (Hello Angie and Nathan.. sorry to all of you who are not related to me, but this if the benefit of being the blogger… also I, Johanna, want to say to all those who DID click the link to read the blog lots of love to all of you) this is something that I could not have imagined. I can’t express how full my heart is from the experiences I am having.

Johanna has a great experience to share (hello from Anna BTW… people are coming up and asking to say hi while I type!)! She was at the Auto-refractor (where I was yesterday) and met a family of four. The mother and father were there with their two daughters and of the group only the father did not need glasses. None of the ladies had worn glasses before and as she worked with them she saw that they were rather significant. She was so touched by their warmth and appreciation that she made sure to follow them through to dispense (where they actually get the glasses that were prescribed) and was able to help ensure they had a wonderful experience. The reality was, I think anyway, that Johanna had a more powerful experience than they did. She is overflowing when she shares her story! As she says, “It was sooooooo cute.” Trust me, it was… I was right next to her.

Another story comes from our friend Anna. She shared how amazing the passion of the people of the clinic, the team and the volunteers, is to her. She has said that as the clinic closes for the day, everyone chips in and is makes sure that the final people that have been waiting for so long get the care they need. This is after 8 long hours of standing and working and being overwhelmed emotionally as we work with people we know will have a new life because of what they are receiving. She is so right. Everyone is willing to stay and make sure that EVERY recipient gets the care they need. She also mentioned that no matter how small a request, everyone is willing to do what it takes to get the job done.

It is an amazing team and was an amazing day. We are heading home VERY late and so we will sign off for now, but know that all of your family or friend here in Chile are experiencing something that could not happen without your love and support. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts (co-workers, family and friends)

We have arrived!

To all the concerned friends and family, we are here and safe! The first two nights we stayed on the local army barracks and had no access to internet and limited phone access. We have now arrived at our final home away from clinic. The hotel is the Hotel Agua del Desierto (56-55) 367-700. While the Chilean army was very nice to allow us to stay on base, the lack of heat and hot water made for two long nights!

We have dispensed over 3000 prescriptions so far, so things are going very well. The people of Chile are wonderful and we cannot say enough for the local volunteers and the military. They have made sure we have everything we need (minus a warm shower).

Some amazing stories have come out of the first two and 1/2 days of clinic. I will share more over the weekend, but a few to get you started.


On day one we saw more than 1000 people in just 1/2 day of clinic. A young man came in with a high prescription and a very home-made pair of glasses. They looked a little like a pair of swim goggles we have seen Olympian Michale Phelps wearing as he broke so many records if he held the lenses in with bathtub caulk! The poor guy could barely see and everyone in the clinic was hoping for a perfect match to make his life better. After refraction it was found that he was a minus 15! and the "glasses" he had been wearing only corrected to a minus 10 in one eye and were plano in the other. WOW! In an almost miracle, we were able to find an almost perfect pair. Mission magic for sure.

Another amazing story from day one was one that just shows how big the hearts of the local people are. An older woman was at clinic and was about to get a new pair of bifocals. As is often the case the new glasses were a major increase from her current Rx. The woman kept trying to tell our team something, but all of the folks that worked with her spoke little Spanish. Finally she was able to tell us through one of the volunteers that she wanted to donate her glasses to another recipient so that they could get the same gift that she was receiving.

I can say from my experiences so far (I have worked in IMS which is the computer system thet identifies glasses, as the Information Officer where you direct people where to get their glasses and in auto-refraction where you use a machine to give a general Rx prior to seeing the OD) that this is absolutely amazing. The people are wonderful, the mission team is fantastic and have made me feel like family, and the volunteers are great as well. We were talking earlier saying more people should get the chance to experinece the joy that is a mission!

While I miss my family (Hi to the joy and light of my life, Angie and Nathan) this is something that I hope to be able to be blessed to experience again sometime and I count myself fortunate to have been a part of.

One final note, yesterday a woman got glasses for the first time... a typical story here. She was so greatful and kept telling Eric Anderson through the translator how much it meant to her. She was obviously not wealthy, but a few hours later she returned and gave Eric a gift (an orange and an apple). This was a huge thing for her to do and shows again the infinite size of the hearts of the people here and reinforces that what we are doing changes lives.

More to come. Thanks for reading!