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“They” always say you never know what to expect in your life when children come along. Bette Friederichs learned that lesson only too well, when a short time ago she found herself accompanying her eye doctor son to Lima, Peru. Peru was their destination to volunteer in a program distributing thousands of used eyeglasses collected by the Lions Club.

Friederichs learned about the Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity through her son Greg, who has been travelling to Peru for sometime with friends and professional colleagues. (His college buddy Mark, for instance, pictured with Greg on next page.)

Friederichs, director of the Chisago County public health department, also attends St. Bridget’s in Lindstrom and the Catholic church supports missions like the one where she stayed in Chimbote, Peru.

Lions Club International collects eyewear at events like the Chisago Lakes Pancake Breakfast at the high school; and ships the glasses to locations all over the world. Boxes of eyewear awaited the volunteer contingent.

For four days this spring, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friederichs worked at fitting and adjusting the donated eyeglasses on recipients ranging in age from children to very elderly Peruvians. She said some 1,350 people came through the clinic while she volunteered there, and they all left with the gift of good vision.

“It was a very wonderful experience,” she said. The people who qualified for the free eyewear have absolutely no resources to obtain glasses or eye care, and they were so happy and grateful. Friederichs explained that many people she met earn their living doing handcrafts and sell their wares. To have their vision affected is a major loss.

“It was surprising to me, how many of the eyeglasses were a perfect match for the prescription and for the people,” she added.

The glasses are sorted into bins labeled (SV) “single vision” and (BV) for bifocal and then the glasses are further separated for sight correction needed (prescription).

Friederichs said few spoke English so there were interpreters available but gestures and goodwill went far in surmounting the language barrier. Peru is not a stable nation and Friederichs said she and other volunteers were housed inside the walled mission. They didn’t tour the immediate area without a native along. She was in South America for two weeks, though, and had an opportunity to see many famous South American sites. She looks forward to being able to return.

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