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When you think of Cabo san Lucas in Baja Mexico, you think of a luxury resort that the rich and famous play. That is one side of Cabo. The other side is extreme poverty. Because of the harsh desert climate there is no agriculture or farming. The cost of housing and food is extremely high and the entire economy is based on tourism.
A very large percentage of the population live in extreme poverty with no access to any type of health care. There was a room with over well over 120 people who had been waiting for 2 days to see me for an eye exam. The people clapped and cheered with my arrival.
Ly and I rolled up our sleeves and began the examinations. We helped over 120 people our first day. It was interesting, my Mexican Assistant, Dinora, who helped with the translations told me an interesting story. When she was young, her father told her that the only way she could be someone was to learn English. Since the schools are very poor in Cabo, she decided to cross the Rio Grande to go to the US as an illegal immigrant just to learn English! Her father told her what do you have to loose? You have no life in Cabo? If you get caught they will just send you back to Mexico. If you make it you will have a new life! So she did, and she went to Oklahoma for one year and now she is back, and she is our interpreter.
I am sorry I did not bring eye glasses, medications and eye drops. Next trip I will be better prepared.