What I Brought Home from Arequipa, Peru
Hello from sunny San Antonio!
I hope you’ll give me a few moments to share an experience that has stayed very close to my heart since returning from Arequipa, Peru, where I spent two weeks serving alongside our Global Missions team on an eye project.
I can only describe those two weeks as life-changing for me, for our patients and, I believe, for everyone involved.
The eye project was hosted at IEI Progresista, an elementary school, where we saw nearly 250 patients each day, including many children. Our team included approximately 58 volunteers from across the U.S. and Canada, with 18 proudly hailing from San Antonio.
Around the project, our San Antonio contingent is affectionately known as “Dr. Bob’s team,” since I Care San Antonio’s founding physician, Bob Rice, MD, has served as medical director of the MMI Peru eye project for more than a decade, with his wife, Betsey, dispensing glasses alongside him. With another six Texans joining us, I’d say Dr. Bob’s team – and Texas – were both well represented!
Over the course of two weeks, the volunteer doctors, nurses, technicians and nonmedical team members saw 2,348 patients, performed 122 surgeries and distributed more than 1,200 pairs of prescription glasses, 500 reading glasses and nearly 1,000 pairs of sunglasses.
But the work went far beyond eye care.
We prayed with patients, shared the Word and sang together every day. Each morning, we opened the clinic singing “Alabaré,” which is Spanish for “I will praise.” It’s incredibly catchy, and I can promise you it will stay in your head for hours!
And praise we did.
I continue to praise and give thanks for this mission, for the people of Arequipa who welcomed us so graciously, and for the volunteers who gave so much of themselves to serve.
I also came home with an even deeper appreciation for you. The work we do in San Antonio and around the world is possible because you believe that restoring someone’s sight can change a life. Your prayers, generosity, and belief in this mission allow I Care San Antonio to continue saying “yes” to people who need us.
Thank you for being part of this mission. Whether that work happens a few miles from your home or thousands of miles away, we are restoring sight, changing lives and sharing hope together.
I’ve included a video of how the school was transformed into a clinic. Enjoy and think about how you might want to be involved with the mission work next year, there’s always a place for another volunteer, regardless of your vision care experience.
-Megan Burkes Executive Director
