We learned a lot today. We didn't teach much today though.
We had three classes. One for second years (an ocular disease class) and two for third years (a disease class and a procedures class). In each of the two disease classes we simply took the time to introduce ourselves complete with pictures like this:
They were very impressed with the one above.
We then went over the syllabus and that was that. Before letting the students leave we took an individual picture of each of them and spelled out their names phonetically in the hope that we can learn all of them before we leave.
In the procedures class we just got a feel for what they already know and then gave them an example of what one of our exams is like.
Very nice students. I am very concerned with their level of knowledge. By our third year of optometry school we were doing complete eye exams on patients. They do not yet know how to determine a prescription or look at the health of the eye. I see no time in their four year schedule where they will be seeing patients. It seems to me that they will graduate with a lot of theoretical knowledge but very little practical experience. I suppose it's difficult to gain practical experience with no equipment.
There are three complete eye exam lanes here. They got them earlier this academic year. There are (between the three classes)about 60 students.
This is a quasi-public school, in that it is not truly private but they receive no funds from the Palestinian government. They depend solely on tuition (not much)and private donations. It is very difficult to convince people to donate to Palestine - after all they are terrorists. This difficulty creates issues with receiving necessary equipment. Earlier in the year they were given a little bit of money which immediately was used to buy the little equipment they have. It's a start.
It will be interesting to see how the students progress this semester. Hopefully the third years will have at least the "finger skills" to conduct an eye exam by the end of the semester.
We're still safe. We are no where near the Gaza Strip which is where all the news is coming from. Don't worry about us.
For some reason the phone number I wrote in the last post doesn't work. I'm not entirely sure why.
The country code for Palestine is 970. Apparently if you use the Israeli country code of 972 you can get a hold of us.
So our number is: 011 972 59 907 6393 and our home phone number is:
011 972 09 234 9525 (I think - I get confused with all these numbers. The cell phone works for sure as we spoke with someone recently who had the initiative, nay, the drive and wisdom to figure out my earlier mistake - Thanks Gilda)
Not much else going on. We still don't have internet at home. We still don't have a washing machine at home - which is going to be a problem soon. I guess we'll have to find a dry cleaner or something. Hope everyone is well. Talk to you soon.
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2 comments:
good idea in showing pictures of your families to let them know what your background is. Nice to take their pictures as well - good luck in memorizing names. Dad says it would be difficult to donate money to the school because you then end up on someone's "suspect" list because you are "supporting" Palestinians. He says you will have to be careful about that, too, so you don't get put on any "watch" list which makes it difficult for you to fly back and forth. Its hard for some people to just understand that you care about people, as individuals, and that you aren't supporting any kind of cause.
Good luck with the laundry problem. What's the hold up with the washer?
Is there any chance you can get your students to do an eye exam with your limited tools or did you bring them? I'm thinking of the portable stuff you had in a kit - if I remember rightly.
Glad you are safe. Sounds like you are going to have a good relationship with your students. We have had our second "That the World May Know" session for hotdog night on Fridays and will continue to do so to pray for you both and for any needs you raise.
Take care. We love you both.
Mum (and the rest of the Friday Night Crew).
It took me an hour to catch up with all of these blogs, but it was an exciting read. You're in my prayers, my thoughts, and the people are as well. It must be terrifying to hear gunshots in the distance, just thinking of what the people where those gunshots are going through. Hiding in fear, that's what tears me up. Prayer is all i can do being this far away but it's a very effective way of Gods works. You two are living a very adventurous life right now, and in ways i'm jealous that you're getting to see the world first hand instead of reading it in the "funny papers" However, i'm thankful for my safety but sometimes you need to put yourself in the fire to really feel it. I'm really proud of you two and all that you're doing there.
It's a very wonderful thing, however small it may feel at the time. It probably means an enormous amount to those people.
xox.
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