It’s been a long time since we’ve shared a reading eyeglass story. But that doesn’t mean the reading eyeglass queues at The Luke Commission outreaches aren’t consistently long. They are. And patients are consistently elated and grateful when they can see up close again. Maybe for the first time in years.
In photos, then, let’s see how Emaswati react – those who do not have transport to the cities or cash in their pockets – when a TLC staff member fits them with simple reading glasses.
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| No words. Only joy. |
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| Patients line up outside Room 9, TLC’s eye department. |
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| Phindi has fitted reading glasses for years. It’s not a job but a calling on her life, she says. |
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| “That’s better!” |
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| It might be a long walk home, but patients meet the darkness with a lighter step and a pair of reading glasses tucked safely on their person. |
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| No words. Just a line of gratitude. |
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| No words. Only delight. |
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| Traveling to outermost regions of Eswatini, this early morning the TLC team sets up at a rural mountain school. Soon hundreds will arrive, most walking. Notice the TLC vehicles and trailers carrying everything from reading glasses to generators. |
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| Hot, sunshiny temperatures bring out umbrellas as much as welcomed rains in Eswatini. Here’s today’s queue for the vision department. |
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| Grandparents raising precious grandchildren need to see up close! |
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| “If I can thread this needle…Now that’s the real test of these new glasses…” |
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| No words. Only wonder. |
May your day be brightened and lightened.
by Janet Tuinstra