To spread awareness about the free eye camp, The Daly College students and exchange students went around Indore after lunch and distributed flyers in different neighborhoods. On the first day of the campaign, I was bombarded with unfamiliar Hindi words. I stayed with students from The Daly College as they explained the eye camp to people while I wordlessly handed flyers.
The next day during Hindi class, we created a speech that we could give with help from our Hindi teacher, Dr. Rajopadyay. I felt much more prepared and by the end of the week I felt confident approaching people.
We went to the Choitram Netralaya to receive basic training on conducting eye exams and identifying cataracts. The doctor took the time to explain how different eye problems occurred in the eye. I was surprised to learn that the eye exams I took every time I visited my pediatrician were different from the ones we would be administering at the eye camp because India uses the British system of eye exams. Before the training, I had no idea eye exams varied from country to country. Alexis, another AFS student, was able to have her glasses fixed at the hospital.
The Eye Camp is a Round Square partnership between the Daly College, Ermitage International School of France, and Choitram Netralaya. Ermitage also brought along three Danish students they had invited from another school. The Ermitage students arrived to help us set-up the camp at a dharamshala in Indore. Half of us helped with camp set-up and the other half went campaigning.
The Eye Camp was hectic but invigorating. Everyone was dedicated to having the eye camp run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. I was nervous at first about administering eye exams entirely in Hindi, but the Daly students were always willing to pitch in if I had any trouble and more often I found myself helping the French students with their Hindi (I even taught them to sing “Hum Honge Kamyab”).
The Eye Camp was an amazing chance to provide a necessary service to the community while practicing Hindi and making new friends from the Daly and Ermitage.