Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

On April 5, Tzu Chi volunteers held a free clinic at Saphan Prakanong Temple in Bangkok. During the clinic, an optometrist from Banpaew Hospital discovered that many patients had eye problems and needed eyeglasses but were too poor to afford them.

Therefore, volunteers, in cooperation with Banpaew Hospital, held an eyeglasses distribution on May 14 in the Klong Toei district of Bangkok. Optometrists checked the patients to find out whether they were nearsighted, farsighted, or having other eye problems. Then patients were asked to put on a pair of special glasses, which allowed the optometrists to change the lenses. After finding the most suitable lenses for a patient, the optometrists wrote down the prescription and asked the patient to take the information to any of the five staff members of an optician's shop that had come to help. Those people then prepared a pair of glasses for the patient according to the prescription.

A total of 88 patients benefited from the distribution. Putting on their newly acquired glasses, they thanked the volunteers for enabling them to see better. Their smiles brought smiles to the volunteers' faces.