“Touring the Caribbean Area: A Vision Humanitarian Project in the Works”
Elder Darrel L. Hammon
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| Elder and Sister Hammon and Sister and Dr. Christiansen |
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| Sister Hammon, Christiansens, and local women |
Dr. Christiansen is an ophthalmologist who lives in Salt Lake City
(Sugar House) and who is a vision specialist for the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. As a vision specialist, he and his wife travel to many
countries, helping develop vision projects. On this particular project, we had
an exciting time, visited government officials and other ophthalmologists, and
helped members and non-members who have vision challenges.
Dominica—We flew into
Dominica from Puerto Rico and landed in the dark. After renting a van, we
headed to Portsmouth and traveled on one of the windiest roads we have ever
been on. Now, couple the windy road with an extremely narrow road with hairpin
curves barely wide enough for two small cars, deep rain gutters on both sides
of the road, a van with the steering wheel on passenger side and driving on the
left side, all in the pitch black and you have our trip to Portsmouth. It took
us a little over an hour although the natives say they can make it in 45
minutes. We were extra cautious. We almost ran into a pick up coming up the
road—actually he almost ran into us because we were in our lane on the
left-hand side of the road. We passed by a gnat’s hair—literally. We breathed a
sigh of relief, appreciating the prayer we said before we left the airport.
We spent the night in the Picard Cottages. The cottages we stayed in
were rustic, but the view from our steps was spectacular. Basically, from our
cottage, the ocean was just across the fence. Plus, the black sand was a wee
bit different than what we have been accustomed to here in the Dominican
Republic.
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| Portsmouth Branch Presidency |
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| Portsmouth Branch Building |
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| Francois Family in Dominica |
We had a wonderful time at Church in Portsmouth. The Branch Presidency
is comprised of young men who are attending Ross University medical program.
They all want to become doctors. The branch building is highly colorful (see
picture). While in Portsmouth, we were able to visit the Francois family, and
Dr. Christiansen was able to do some eye exams for all of them. They are
working toward attending the temple. They are just a wonderful family,
dedicated to the Lord, and wanting to do what is right.
We drove to Roseau and stayed in Sutton Place, an older home now
converted to a hotel. The Harris family has owned this place for several
decades. It is located in downtown Roseau, close to the ocean.
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| Sutton Place in Dominica |
The next day, we met with Dr. Hazel Shillingford-Ricketts, an
incredible ophthalmologist, who does wonderful things for the poor in Dominica.
Actually, she is really a one-woman show. She and her office folks do it all,
including driving out the 11 clinics, scattered throughout Dominica.
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| Former sister missionaries |
Later that afternoon, we went to the building where the LDS groups
meets. They are not a branch yet, but they are faithful people. Elder and
Sister Rea, two amazing senior missionaries from New Mexico, organized
everything, including the eye clinic.
People began coming in to have their eyes tested and receive free
reading glasses. What was going to be a two-hour clinic turned into a
four-hour-plus vision clinic. Almost 80 people showed up, some members but
mostly friends and neighbors of the members and the Reas. We enjoyed ourselves
so much. In fact, some of people who came to the clinic began singing the
hymns.
St. Kitts—We flew to St.
Kitts next. Elder and Sister Martínez, another incredible senior couple,
picked us up and were our chauffeurs for the entire time we were on St. Kitts. We
stayed at a member’s condo, Sister Mayer, from Florida. She and her husband
just received their mission call to serve as temple missionaries in the
Montevideo Uruguay Temple.
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| Elder and Sister Terry Hanley and Family |
Elder Terry Hanley, a local Church-service missionary, set up visits with
hospital administrators, vision specialists, representative from the Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO), an ophthalmologist from Cuba (Dr.
Morales), and others about their vision needs in serving the poor.
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| The Pasaud Family from Guyana, now living in St. Kitts |
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| The Farrell Family in St. Kitts |
We also did an eye clinic at the branch building, which is a beautiful
building sitting on a large piece of property with lots of mango trees. The
members can pick mangos to take home, if the monkeys haven’t eaten them first. The
Branch President, President González, and his wife, actually are
Dominicanos but live and work in St. Kitts. They have a delightful family. The people
who came—members and non-members—were very thankful to receive an exam ad some
glasses.
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| Elder/Sister Burdick and Sister Hammon |
Antigua—Our next stop was
Antigua. We met Elder and Sister Burdick, another wonderful senior couple, at
the airport. While at the Avis counter renting a van, we began talking to the
agent. She said she needed reading glasses; so, Dr. Christiansen fitted her
right there. She was so pleased.
Before we had our meeting at the hospital, we went to the Antigua
Branch building. What a beautiful building in a great location with lots and
lots of land. President and Sister Roberts met us there, and we explained our potential
project. We also discovered prior to going to Antigua that they had just lost
their first baby, stillborn after eight months. They were devastated. The Lord
knew their needs because Dr. and Sister Christiansen also had lost a baby and
were able to share their story and give some comfort to them.
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| Dr. Ian Walwyn |
We had a delightful visit with Dr. Ian Walwyn, an ophthalmologist and
Rotary Club president. What a phenomenal young man he is. He and I had a couple
of conversations before this visit. I was looking forward to meeting him. He
met and exceeded all expectations. We also had time to visit with their Rotary
Club out on at the “Rat Trap,” a dock on the ocean.
Unfortunately, because of the time factor, we were not able to do a
vision clinic; but, like the rest of the islands, we left a box of 300 pairs of
glasses for Elder and Sister Burdick to disperse.
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| The Heritage Hotel in Antigua |
We stayed at the Heritage Hotel, located just off the dock where all of
the cruise ships tie up.
Puerto Rico—Our final stop
was Puerto Rico. We had stopped there first before going to Dominica, had
dinner with Presidente Alvardo and his wife and Elder and Sister Tower, and did
an eye clinic in the Caguas Stake. Presidente Santos, the Stake President, and
his counselor, President Martínez, wanted us to return; so, we did.
We also did a clinic in Ponce, which is a large city about two hours from San
Juan. Elder and Sister Tower, a member of the mission presidency, picked us up
and drove us to Ponce where we met with the zone leaders and senior couples in
Puerto Rico. We had a good visit.
Then came the eye clinic in Ponce. Elder and Sister Tesch, another one
of those incredible senior couples, had set up the entire clinic, invited the
members to bring their friends, and then helped with the clinic. We had
numerous people who took advantage of this opportunity. We had a good time. It
started around 3:00 p.m., and we finally closed up shop around 7:00 p.m.
Elder and Sister Stecker who serve in the San Juan Puerto Rico Mission Office
drove us to our hotel in Caguas, which is about a 45-minute drive from Ponce. Presidente Martínez from the Caguas Stake
picked us up the next morning and took us to the stake center where we held
another eye clinic. We met some wonderful people who received the miracle of better
sight.
We made it home on Saturday evening, exhausted, exhilarated, and
spiritually-fed. What an incredible journey we have had this past week. We
visited with numerous people, including members of the Church, who have great
needs. We hope we can accommodate some of those needs through a vision
humanitarian project. Our main conclusion is this: We serve in the best mission
ever!
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