November 2003

Alfonso Raypatan had to be led by both hands into the clinic. Blind from cataracts, he stared toward but not right at you because he can only see the outline of your form.  After surgery was done on his first eye and the patch removed, Alfonso smiled, then turned and walked down the crowded hall, weaving in and out and leaving his guide in the dust!

While serving with the Canvasback eye team in Pohnpei, Dr. David Eisenberg made the observation that Canvaback's work is among the "nobler types of charitable acts."  Asked to explain his meaning he said that there are different levels of giving.  The most basic is when you give to someone you know who asks you for something.  "

When you give to someone you don't know and who cannot repay you adds a layer of charity to it," he said.

Even higher, he said, is giving anonymously to someone you'll never see. This is the kind of act performed by the supporters of Canvasback Missions.