A call to arms Speech
by: Mark Paul S. Paroli
I want to share a patient of mine in resources for the blind who is a low vision; technically, a low vision is someone who, after surgery and eyeglass intervention, is still visually impaired to everyday activities.
She had Stage 3 Retinopathy of Prematurity, and after her eye surgery, She could only read the biggest letter "E"… if it was 1 feet closer to her face and could only read as big as the headline of a newspaper at near, at 10 words per minute. She was then advised to learn braille and was sent to a school for the blind. Last Monday I was able see her and her mother, her mother told me she can now read the black board 10 feet away using a telescope and could read fonts as small as size 12 with a prescribed magnifier. And they told me she was transferred to a mainstream school. All of that after her low vision rehabilitation with me.
I'm telling all of this because of its relationship to my advocacy. I remember marielle's mother texted me during my birthday, greeting me and saying "Maraming salamat po sa pag bigay ng pag asa sa aming pamilya". Giving hope to their family…
My Advocacy speaks mostly about Hope. Giving hope to the Low Vision and the blind, to fellow Filipinos, and to our Mother Land.
When I first stepped inside the Resources for the Blind, that's where I found out how many Filipinos are Low vision and are Blind, that's the time I found out that if you'd compare the number of Optometrists and Ophthalmologists who specializes in low vision rehabilitation to the number of Low vision and blind in our country, you will get a large amount of difference.
And that was the time when I felt the urge to help our brothers and sisters, especially the indigent. Some would ask me why do I do it despite the low payments they give me, why don't but some people will never understand that I was gaining something more than money can buy, I am able to change someone's life. I am able to give them hope, a hope for a better future.
And that's how I give hope, by giving vision to those who are close to being blind.
I remember during my graduation, I was given a letter by someone dear to me. Most part of the letter was about congratulating me on my graduation day, but the part that hit me the most was the part where he said "Those three stripes on your toga doesn't just mean you earned a degree. It also means you acquired a skill. I pray you use those skills to serve others for the glory of God".
We are in a room full of skillful professionals, and I believe that everyone in this class can also be a source of Hope to someone. It could be to your partner, family, friends, the company you have joined and even to your nation. In my case, I was blessed with the skill of understanding how vision works, and I've learned how to use it to help people.
A politician could fight corruption, a business man can conduct missions to remote areas of the country; a doctor can join outreach programs, a lawyer can give his or her service to someone who cannot afford an attorney., etc.
Let's face it, our country is plagued with problems. if you would juxtapose the 2 faces of the Philippines, The good news – we're second best performing economy next to china, but if you look around you, you will see the things that ails our country; endemic corruption, rotten judiciary system, poverty, stronger natural disasters, Manmade pollutions, high crime level, the large gap between the rich and the poor, etc. And these leads us to darker days, days where hope is needed most. We need to keep it alive, because other people, or the whole country needs that.
As students of the Ateneo, we are taught to serve. We are in an institution where students are known to be "Man and Woman for Others". I urge everybody in this room to serve. Let us Serve our whole life. Let's find ways to make our dreams meaningful to others as well. Let us offer ourselves to a cause bigger than our own needs or ambition. Let us become a source of hope.
I'm going to end this speech with this thought about our country which I usually tell myself:
The Philippines is my home, it has become dirty throughout the years because of many things; Corruption, Poverty, pollutions, Natural disasters, etc.
But I love the Philippines, not despite those negative things, but because of it. And I think that it's a country that needs a lot of loving.
I believe that if we all share this love to our mother land, then it will become that cozy, peaceful and beautiful home that all of us have always dreamed of.
Altogether, let us be the hope of achieving this dream.
Thank you.
Mark Paul S. Paroli, OD
Ocularist / Optometrist
Customized Prosthetic Eye and Low vision Rehabilitation services
Soliman Paroli Eyecare
2nd Floor SM City Clark
Tel #: (045) 499-0122
Mobile #: 09175141386
To God be the glory!
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