A Note From Marina

On Friday October 18th I was informed by our Rotary hosts in Ecuador that  the Ministry of Health in Ecuador, specifically one woman, had denied our request for approval for clearance of our eyeglasses and equipment.  The reason pupillary distance.  In the next 36 hours between watching Evan and Emma play in a baseball tournament, Derrick and I were forced to write an appeal to the Ministry citing studies from the World Health

Marina

Organization and various epidemiological journals that  support the use of ready made glasses in developing countries.  We were teased by the promise of a response on Monday which turned to Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday and still no response on Friday October 25th.  Meanwhile 19 volunteers from Newfoundland to Nanaimo are anxiously preparing for the eye care mission set to depart from Vancouver in 4 days.  At this point Derrick and I had to make the difficult decision of cancelling the project or running the border with our eyeglasses.   IF we take the risk, 10,000 eyeglasses could be held in customs indefinitely or we would

Ten thousand eyeglasses

have to pay thousands of dollars in duty.  As well 19 team volunteers would be very disappointed.

On Monday October 21, we began making phone calls in the hope of salvaging this project.  After communication with the Latin Division of the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs, John Bairds Office, we were advised that there was nothing they could do to help us.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the Canadian Embassy in Quito Ecuador and despite their efforts, there was nothing they could do to change the mind of this one woman.  The Ambassador of Ecuador in Ottawa, despite his contacts in the Ministry could do nothing to change the decision of this one woman as well.

Loading boxes for flight to Ecuador

On Sunday October 27 at 8:30pm we  finally received an email  that this woman in the  Ministry had denied our appeal.  The only reason given –TECHNICAL  reasons.
Derrick and I thought and thought and prayed and prayed throughout the day.  We had no plan B and the team had no idea what was happening.  We continued to pack the boxes as if we had approval from the Ministry.  We had no idea what would happen in customs at Quito and therefore could not finalize accommodations or the clinic itinerary in Quito.
Derrick and I decided that at the very least if we had all our equipment we could still proceed with our project.  The plan would be to buy glasses for patients in Ecuador using donations

Clearing customs in Ecuador - we were a convoy.

raised by team members.

So on Monday October 28 our team packed the eyeglasses and medications in18 boxes.  I asked all team members to bring a small suitcase to the airport half filled with clothes we could give away as donation.  The rest of the suitcase would be filled with equipment spread out amongst the luggage.  We also placed labels on all the boxes stating that the boxes had no monetary value and were for the relief of the blind.

Tim working with the autorefractor.

On October 29th, the day of our departure, Derrick and I spent most of the day getting documents notarized and then visiting the Consul General of Ecuador to seal  the documents.

On Wednesday October 30 at three o’clock in the morning, our team met at the airport and packed all equipment into the suitcases.

The flight from Houston to Quito was very nerve racking.  During

the flight I prepared a few words for the customs agent.  Essentially it was a begging speech and the plan was to claim ignorance and beg for forgiveness.  Team members were assigned a luggage or a box.

 

When we arrived at Quito Airport at 11pm, we had the team members assigned with luggage (all our equipment) to go through customs as tourists.  Of the five that were assigned, 2 were questioned and had a baggage search by customs.  They were eventually allowed to go through.  Now we knew we could do the project with or without the glasses.  We were THRILLED!
Now came the boxes, when you have 18 boxes it is hard to get through inconspicuously.  Fortunately we remained calm and only 3 boxes were inspected.  In half an hour our whole team with our 10,000 eye glasses and equipment passed through!!!!!
The last three weeks have been agonizing and incredibly difficult and many times we had to ask ourselves if  we can continue doing this.  Certainly it would have been easier to just cancel the project immediately and  have our lives back.
But the beautiful children of Ecuador and the mother crying because her blind son can now see and the team members who endure long bus rides, lack of sleep, who work together as a team  to serve those less fortunate…all this makes it worth it.

PLEASE FOLLOW OUR BLOG ON OUR WEBSITE AND SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS.