Never Take For Granted... #59: Contacts

Contact lenses, I should specify, not “contacts” as in acquaintances, although you should never take those for granted either.

On Tuesday, someone’s contact fell out in our water van. The Ugandans with us--Bob, one of our translators, and Joram, a surveyor who has been working with us on the water education talks--were first shocked, then a little freaked out, then curious (while still a bit perturbed that some foreign object just came out of someone’s eye). Everyone laughed about the event ten minutes later, but think about it: wouldn’t you be a bit surprised too?

I feel like the Duke students on this trip take our contact lenses for granted. I don’t know how many of us are wearing them on the trip (off the top of my mind, at least five of the 10 students here), but all of the students in the van at the time wore contacts, myself included. Do we actually think about how blessed we are with the technology--medical or not--available to us in the States? We’re working in a country where Bob and Joram had never even heard of contacts before, let alone seen them, and we’re wearing dailies, contacts you wear ONCE and throw out after a single day.

I’ve probably visited 15 or so schools and spoken to at least 1,500 students by this point. Maybe more, even; Tuesday alone, we presented to approximately 500 students. Not once have I seen a child wearing glasses. Why would they be? Where are the means? When these communities are worrying about a lack of clean water during the dry season and battling diarrheal diseases, typhoid, and malaria, I think 20/20 vision ranks pretty low on the priority sheet.

I can’t even imagine how someone would deal with contacts here (at least out in Kashongi; it’s probably somewhat easier in towns and cities, but maybe not by much). How do you ensure that you’re washing your hands with clean water before you touch the lens that enters your eye? Who has the capacity to care for eye infections, should they arise?