The idea for this mission began when one of our employees was found crying at work. When asked by her manager Melkon Kechichian what the problem was, he was horrified to find that she had not had any contact with her mother since the earthquake. Although she was extremely worried she was still coming to work each day. Even though there was nothing that could be done by us to find her mom, a collection was taken up so that when her mother was located arrangements could be made to bring her to Canada. Happily this process is now taking place and we are currently helping with visa arrangements.
Melkon spoke with his father, the company president, and it was decided that much more could be done for the people of Haiti. To that end Laurier Optical has now committed 1 million dollars in eye wear and eye care to the people in Haiti.
There are many things that have happened since that conversation. A team has been put in place to organize this project. We have contacted the media and have had overwhelming support from them. Our suppliers have been contacted and again the support from them has been immense.
Through the media, the community has responded by donating their old eyeglasses to us. The frames will be refurbished and new prescription lenses will be put in.
The only black cloud has been the lack of support from our government. Many departments and politicians have been contacted to let them know about the mission and the fact that we need safe transport and accommodation. However, the lack of response from them for this humanitarian effort is extremely sad.
Due to this lack of response, Mr. Kechichian has contacted a “private security firm” which is able to get us in and out of Haiti via the Dominican Republic. This is not an ideal situation and of course it would be much safer to do this through our government agencies. We have not asked for free transportation or accommodation we just want the government’s protection for our mission and to make sure that the team is safe while they are in Haiti.
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