Nowadays we always ask what the society could do for them but have we stopped for a moment and thought about what we have done for this society? Of course giving and taking is an etiquette most people know but have we thought about giving more and taking less? Our ecosystem is a cycle that would be adequate for humans, plants, animals and the earth to sustain for a long, long time if we give as much as we take from the ecosystem. It is easily said than done but sometimes a little might mean nothing to us, yet meant a lot to others. We are now living on a land that our ancestors worked hard to provide and we also must not forget about them and their hardship. So what should we do to contribute back especially when everyone is busy earning money to sustain their own lifestyle? Actually I think the best way is through volunteering as firstly, we learn not to think that every action we do will mean we will get something back, secondly, we actually learn to give completely and thirdly, we understand that if we manage our time efficiently, we could still spare time for others who need our aid.
Our clinic provides voluntary services like free eye check-up for the elderly in the elderly homes or local community centers and going to Vietnam to provide free cataract surgeries & eye check-up for the people living in the rural area every year. This month we went to Yangjae Senior Welfare Center to provide free eye examination for the elderly living around the area. The queue started way before we reached there and everything started as soon as we set up all the equipment. At first our optometrist provided regular eye check-up to check their vision and lens condition. Most elderly had some vision problems like not being able to see anything within a feet distance, not wearing glasses even though they couldn’t see well and presbyopia. One of the grannies was very adorable as her left eye condition was better than her right eye and she was trying to use her left eye to read even though we covered her left eye. I felt sad for some grandpas as they couldn’t even see how many fingers the optometrist had placed in front of them.
After the regular eye examination, Dr. Kim examined their eye condition for any possible diseases or problems and he advised the patients how to take care of their eyes, especially for those with slight cloudy lens condition by providing eye drops so that the lens condition would not get worse. For some with healthy lens, eye drops were also provided to make sure that the elderly could maintain their eye condition. For some with serious cataract conditions, Dr. Kim advised them to get an operation to replace the lens as soon as possible so that the condition did not get worse.
Finally, we managed to see all the patients within 3 mad-hours rush and the center in-charge was really grateful that we made the visit. She told us that most elderly had difficulty going to places and by bringing our equipment to the center, the patients didn’t have to go far for treatment. However it did not apply to certain examinations, as some require the patients to visit the hospital for detailed examination. It is a pity and I hope as the technology advances, more and more equipment will be made smaller and more compact to accommodate the elderly needs. Well, a little means so much to these elderly and let’s try to make this place a more beautiful place to live in!
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