Eyes of the Innocents

I was tracing through some old folders and found these pile of left-forgotten photographs taken around July last year, when me and some friends were helping our seniors doing the research for their final thesis. The study took place in a public school in Tebet and was held for 5 days in a row. It was also held for charity, we provided free eye exams and glasses. I wasn't officially asked for documenting the event, so I didn't bring my SLR along. But, I couldn't help myself not to capture these wonderful children and moments. Sooo, I grabbed a friend's Sony pocket digicam, and just snapped around whatever I could get. Hopefully the pics still can quite tell the story for themselves :)

Good morning and welcome,

We arrived too early on the first day.

We were hungry like crazy, so we walked around a little just to calm the tummies down.
We found some street food nearby.
Seeing those toy stalls kind of recalled the childhood memories.

Tell me, who doesn't adore kueh cubit?

I bought a box of it for myself, and back then, I always used to have it half-baked.
And no, this time I wouldn't share ;P

We had our quick (and unhealthy) breakfast by the riverside. Let's say goodbye to hygiene for a while.

Mbak Aci was happy to find some cute sweets. She bought the Blackberry toy candy for her daughter.

We went back to the school, it was around 7. Some of the kids were doing the sport.

I remember the theme song that day. It was the famous Chaiyya Chayya these kids were danced into.

Each of us in position, getting ourselves ready...

Some of the boys started lining up at the registration table.

Bluey-shoey, so you're the little rule breaker, hey?

"The eyes of the innocents"

These beautiful twin dolls were very quiet. It's sad to know that they're fatherless.

The kids were so excited for the eye exams.

Kids posing for me. I still can feel their laughter of excitement.
One of them couldn't stop yelling, "Liat deh! Liat deh! Dokternya putih banget!" *me sighing*

Measuring their weight and height.
Can you feel that pure soul of innocence? Like there's no sense of disobedience. 

Mbak Aci doing the Hirschberg's corneal reflex test.

On the right hand side, a kid was having Titmus stereoscopic test.

Special visual acuity test for children, using Lea symbols.

The right pic: Bang Iqbal, one of our seniors, doing the Maddox rod test, for diplopia.

Mbak Rien, doing the Hertel, a test for ocular misalignment. 

Kids having OCT and pachymetry test. 

My desk, where I worked for the color vision test with Ishihara cards.

Me and Mbak Ria, my sister in crime during the 5 days. 

One of my patients, sooo sooo ready for the test. Such a sweetie.

My other patient... Why so serious, boy?

I wasn't giving you a math test, was I baby girl? Please don't give me that look.

At the very end, glasses to be given away if they're proven to be ametropic. Children were free to choose the model and color of their favorites. 

The happy teachers... who couldn't stop thanking us,

the happy us, felt so relieved to finally finished the tasks,

and surely the happy and wide-smiling seniors, after very long and exhausting days.

It always feels good to do something for others. To really see them smile. Such a warmth in our hearts :)

With love,
Indira