(Le Mars) In August, Dr. Elizabeth Groetken from Groetken Family Eye Care downtown Le Mars, fulfilled a dream and learned a harsh reality. Groetken and her 20 year old daughter Kara teamed up with VOSH (Voluntary Optometric Services to Humanity) International on a trip to Haiti. They were providing free eye services, like checking prescriptions and screenings for glaucoma and other eye diseases.
I sat down over lunch with Dr. Groetken to find out more about her trip. She said during her week spent in Haiti, the poverty was apparent the moment she walked off the plane. From the out building that was the airport, to the crowds outside.
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After settling into the hotel, the group the Groetken’s were working with started travels to different areas of Haiti to put on the scheduled eye clinics. They set up at a different place each day, from churches to orphanages with no air conditioning and several hundred people lined up waiting to be seen.
Groetken says that adjusting her standards was the toughest part of doing the checks.
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Another difficult part about doing the checks was encountering people whose condition was too far gone to help.
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Arriving at their orphanage stop is a day that Groetken will always remember.
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The adults of the village were all gathered and singing as part of a praise service in thankfulness that the vision team was there.
One of the children they saw at the orphanage was said to be dumb by his village. As it turns out, he just couldn’t see. Dr. Groetken examined him and found that his vision measured at a minus 11, which means he could see only 6 inches from his nose. Groetken says they put his prescription into a pair of trial lenses and what happened next filled her heart with joy.
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One of Dr. Elizabeth Groetken’s biggest take-aways from her trip to Haiti was that the privileges we enjoy may not always be what’s best for other cultures.
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Once back state-side, Dr. Groetken has been thinking more about how to help people in need here in the greater Le Mars area. If you know someone who may not be getting the vision care they deserve due to financial constraints, you can bring that to Dr. Liz’s attention at Groetken Family Eye Care.
