The Optician Department of the KHCP has existed since the beginning of 2012. Various persons and companies have repeatedly donated eyeglasses, among them for example Rotary/Rotaract Club of Nuremberg, Fielmann AG, Apollo as well as Optiker Carl and Optiker Kleemann from Hamburg. Continuously, many people have been collecting eyeglasses in their workplaces and among friends to send them to our optician Frauke Witt.
Once arrived there, the eyeglasses can take two roads. Either they are forwarded to our energetic helpers (Ingrid and Georg Ashoff and Martin Plaar of Aktiv Optik) or they are prepared in home work directly for their journey to the Himalayan region.
For the latter, a work station for 4 persons has proven to be most practical. The first person takes a look at the donated eyeglasses and takes them out of their cases. The second person cleans the eyeglasses in ultrasonic baths. The third person measures the prescription strength by using vertex power measurement and the fourth person writes the prescription strength onto transparent zipper bags. The packing in transparent zipper bags has the advantage that the eyeglasses are protected yet visible and it saves weight during transportation.
After having been measured and packed, the eyeglasses are sorted in larger packing units according to prescription strength. That way, a stock of prepared eyeglasses is being built up. So, for a tour, the “only” thing left to do is to find out for example whether there are going to be more elderly persons or more children at the site, and then an appropriate selection can be compiled from the stockpile.
On site in Asia, it has proven to be best practice to measure the eyes in the classic way by using a trial frame.
Since most people speak English, there are no communication problems. Only taking about 3 to 5 minutes per person, it is also the fastest method. When the visual defect of a person is known, an appropriate pair of eyeglasses is simply picked out of the selection brought along from Germany and the person can see again!
Optician Frauke Witt with "spectacle-donor" Mr.Wagner in Germany
Experience has also shown that many people of the local population have problems with dry eyes due to the climatic conditions. The causes are dry and dusty air and high UV radiation. Therefore, we often distribute sunglasses also without prescription lenses. In this connection, the company FIELMANN was the main donor last year, having donated 400 pairs of sunglasses. Furthermore, it is possible to alleviate dry eye problems by placing a lukewarm tea bag onto the eye. Here, a handout in English and Tibetan has been designed, which can always be distributed on site now.
Whoever wants to support the Optician Team is warmly invited to contact the Optician Department.
Email:
Enlarge the pictures
by mouseover or click!
Assorting of more than thousand spectacles
Measuring the eyes of young monks...
... and of old tibetan refugees
Someone of plenty hundreds who got the very first spectacles in their live...
... and the UV-protected sunglasses helps here at high altitudes
