After 9 hours of flying from Detroit, we took advantage of our 7 hour layover in Amsterdam by taking a train into the city and then touring the city by boat on the famous canals. Even though the temperature was in the 30's, the streets were full of people. Their were bikes everywhere you looked. It was then back on the plane for a 10 hour flight to Nairobi, Kenya and then a 2 hour flight to Lusaka, Zambia. Our flight from Nairobi took us over Africa's highest point, Mt. Kilimanjaro. You could see it from the plane.

In Lusaka, we visited The House of Moses, one of The Christian Alliance for Children in Zambia's homes for orphaned children. Opened in 2000, The House of Moses is a unique nursing care model for premature and high risk infants. Before The House of Moses came on the scene, these abandoned infants died for lack of milk and basic care. UNICEF and the United Nations have recognized THoM as a "best practice model". While we visited with the children, the home's Alice Botha described the other homes, schools and programs they oversee. Alice surprised a couple of us when she mentioned that the children who do not get adopted will eventually attend the Helen DeVos Christian School. The Helen DeVos from Grand Rapids donated the money to build the school. "Small World". Needless to say, it was very emotional to see the children begging for our attention and contact. As we left, it was comforting knowing the care and love they were receiving from their special caregivers.

Another "Small World" experience came the same day when we had dinner with Dr. Michael Seward and his wife at their home in Lusaka. I have known Dr. Seward for many years before this trip. You see, Dr. Seward is a St. Joseph, Michigan ophthalmologist that works for Great Lakes Eye Care. The 10 doctors at GLE are very involved with eye missions all over the world. Many of their doctors and staff attend missions on an annual basis. GLE's Dr. Pletcher is the creator of http://www.missioneyes.net/, a web site where anyone interested in finding a mission to support can view upcoming missions, from all over the world, that may need helpers or supporters. Dr. Seward is on a multi-month mission commitment to the Lusaka Eye Clinic. We had a great dinner, even though at any one time you could find someone with their eyes closing and their head bobbing. I was just a little suspicious of our first real African meal. As it turns out, the two day marathon was taking it's toll - and we had many more days to go. Much more to come.

For those who have been checking out this blog and wondering, I am alive and I did actually go to Africa.. The Internet was not as available as I thought it would be and then the speed was slow. We were busy and any time I stopped to record anything or download the about 500 photos/day, I would fall asleep under my miskito netting.

So, I have a new plan of action.

I am posting to this blog to share this awesome experience and to communicate with my new friends in Zambia, Africa. I will be communicating mostly through my friend Westone Mukaka, a Pentecostal minister that runs the Zimba Eye Clinic where we worked. If I remember correctly Mukaka translates to "king of the elephants" in their native language of Tonga. I was direct witness to this when we came upon a large herd of about 30 elephants that Westone seemed to control simply through eye contact. Photos will be in future postings.

Since, I have had the fortune to work in the eye care field for both Bausch & Lomb and more recently Ista Pharmaceuticals for over 14 years, I have looked for ways to "give back" to advance eye care for those that do not have the access some of us do. My decision to participate in an overseas eye mission was greatly influence by the many ophthalmologists, optometrists and staff that have participated in missions, some year-after-year. I have admired their character and selflessness as they would share their experiences with me. This fall, Battle Creek's Dr. Jeff Colquhoun approached me with the opportunity to attend an eye mission to Africa. He said something like, "I know it is short notice, but we have just decided to put a mission trip together December 28 through January 10. You will need to pay for your flights and room & board, have an updated passport, get as many as 9 inoculations, and pack your personal supplies in a carry-on bag since we will use all check-in bags for supplies." With no pause, I said "absolutely". Apparently, I had committed last year when the doctors returned from their last mission. I have since learned where the doctor's enthusiasm had come from, now that I have been touched by the people in Africa.


I will be posting my experience with:



The incredibly spiritually and physically strong people of Africa that smile, laugh, love and worship deeply while living a daily life where so much hardship and suffering exists. Snake bites, animal attacks, insect bites, disease, and hunger are a reality everywhere. I witnessed the results of each of these dangers.

The strong and compassionate new found friends that help at the eye clinic and the hospital. Their ability to put patients that are in severe pain at easy and give them faith in these visiting "white doctors". They lay motionless while undergoing procedures that our society would require general anesthesia.

The doctors that walk into humility by entering an environment that challenges everything they learned in medical school and then stuff they have never been directly exposed to. Finding a way to help every patient, turning back no one, working 12 hours a day. Performing some procedures for the first time, since the extreme cases so rarely happen in our society. Treating each patient as if that was the only patient we were seeing that day.

The selfless people that took 2 weeks away from their families and friends; traveling over 2 days to and from, paying their own expenses, to give everything they had to help the people of Zambia. Stepping way out of their comfort zones and learning new things, not only about the world, but also about themselves.

The awesome countries of Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia - Victoria Falls (one of the seven wonders of the world), animals on a safari and some surprise animal showings, how the African people live, work and worship.

So stay tuned,

Mike