September Update

Dear Friends of dZi,

We have had quite a few changes recently at the dZi Foundation, all of which are for the good. I am no longer a one-man show. Garry Schalla has shifted off of our advisory board to become Associate Director and works with me half time. Garry has been with dZi since 2000, and he and his wife Monica (also an advisory board member) have spearheaded the Eyeglass Program and participated in dental camps and school remodels. We are happy to have Garry on board as he is a perfect blend of a philanthropic heart and a business head, topped off with a liberal dash of humor. A great example is the photo at right of Garry at the Ladakh Dental Clinic last spring. He got all the kids to do the Hokey Pokey with him! You gotta love it... To top it off, we treated 529 children with preventative dental care in the one-week clinic.

For the past three and a half years I have been spending six weeks (in both spring and fall) in Nepal and India to monitor progress, coordinate new projects and work with overseas staff. Garry will be traveling solo for dZi this fall, his fifth time visiting the region. He will put a new set of eyes on all of our projects in Nepal. Ladakh and Sikkim.

Another major change is our new office space in downtown Ridgway, with a hefty commute of a block and a half. Frankly, moving the dZi office out of our house after three years of eating and sleeping dZi, was long overdue. Support comes in many forms and this is a huge help to move the work of the dZi Foundation forward. We need to thank the Lawler Family for their generous donation of the office space. Our new phone number is 970-626-9765, and the new e-mail address is info@dzifoundation.org.

Lastly, please be on the lookout for a mailing coming in the first two weeks of September. We have an amazing opportunity for you to double your donation to the dZi Foundation and possibly become a Founding Member of the dZi Visionary Society.

All the best, Jim

Sam's Smile; Fixing Francisco

Dr. Gary Ruggera, the dZi Foundation Treasurer as well as Director of Aesthesia for Medical Missions for Children, just returned on Sept 1st from a five-day mission in Quito, Ecuador. The team screened 300 children, and performed 65 surgical cases for cleft lip & palate, along with 49 dental cases (29 under general anesthesia for special needs children). And all of that with no complications, significant problems, or deaths.

Below is Dr. Ruggera's heartwarming story about one of his experiences during the program last month.

This picture of me with a little guy from Quito, just before his surgery, always touches my heart and reminds me of why we go to such lengths to help these kids and their families. His name is Francisco, but because his smile and nature were so warm and endearing, for some reason I called him Sam. When he gave me this big smile, it came from his heart; he really had no idea that he was different from most other kids, that his smile was anything that might set him apart from other children. A few minutes after this picture, I carried Sam into the operating room, and soon our team of doctors and nurses went about repairing his cleft lip. Even when he woke up, he had a smile, then much different but just as beautiful as the one he showed me before falling asleep in my arms. Now, a few years later, we have also repaired his palate, and he is a healthy, robust kid who loves to play outside in the warm Ecuadorian sun with his friends.

New Focus for Chemet

With a smile that would light up any room, Chemet Angmo took her place twenty feet from the eye chart. Straining her head, cocked slightly to one side and then the other, searching for some clue to start her on her way. But twenty feet to Chemet might just as well have been infinity. Through our local interpreter, it was relayed that at school she stood just feet away from the chalkboard in order to see what was being taught. Despite this handicap Chemet had been a good student, literally keeping her nose buried in her schoolwork. We questioned why she had never received any eye care in the past? She was, after all, in a public school. Why had she not been referred for a remedy?

The answer lies in a system that is British by design, but Indian in implementation. Both public and private schools require uniforms, and have structured days with little or no government support. For those students in private school whose family can afford health care, eye-care is obtainable; for the rest, it is non-existent. The dZi Foundation is carefully studying this lack of basic service and working to fill the gap in the near future with a sustainable program directed and implemented by local personal.

So now Chemet is just feet from the eye chart, still straining, with 20/70+ in her right eye and 20/100 in her left. What you or I would see at 20 feet looks to her like 100 feet away. In the photo at right, Monica [Schalla] sets to work using the Focometer (an instrument the size of a soda can that easily diagnoses a child’s vision needs, without electricity), and in no time was creating a pair of prescription glasses “on the spot” by inserting our generic lenses into frames. Chemet jerked backwards as the glasses were slid over her nose and the world came into focus. Her bright smile now turned to one of amazement as she came back to the 20-foot mark to again try the E-chart. With her new glasses the 20/20 line became visible and readable.

Chemet's is just one story from our first Optical Solutions Eye Clinic. A child’s world has changed in a huge way, and all through your support of the dZi Foundation.