After living in a remote fly-in Alaskan village for about a year and a half, my landlord invited me to a complimentary dinner at her club, so I jumped at the chance to go. I had no clue what club she even belonged to, but thought it might be a fun evening, so I decided to join her and enjoy a free meal.
It was this experience that made me become a Lion in my heart, and I truly realized the importance of our work.
Walking into the clubhouse that evening, the first thing I noticed was the ratio of men to women—about seven to one! And being single, I knew right away that this was the club for me. A few weeks later, I became a member of the Bethel Lions Club in Alaska.
Six months later, I was elected tail twister and my Lion’s journey began. I did everything asked of me—attended meetings, volunteered and was a loyal Lion. Fast forward two years…I was 500 miles from home in a hospital with my critically ill mother and, at 2:00 a.m., I received a phone call from my brother who lived in Florida.
“Bubbles,” he said (that’s what he calls me). “I’ve had a stroke and I’m blind and need to come live with you.” I told him to quit joking around—our mom was really sick—and I couldn’t deal with his jokes right then. But upon further discussion, I discovered he wasn’t kidding. I booked him on the next plane to Alaska, and this began my journey of understanding what Lions really do.
When I truly became a Lion
Lions were so helpful and understanding, guiding us through the steps that enabled my brother to become independent. In a relatively short time, he was able to return to Florida and live with assistance from his adult children. It was this experience that made me become a Lion in my heart, and I truly realized the importance of our work. Along the way, I have suffered some minor vision loss, but am comforted knowing that I have a great group of Lion friends to help me find my way if needed.
During my years as a Lion, I have undertaken many projects. But there are two that stand out and are close to my heart. First, in Bethel, there was a need for a winter shelter for the homeless as many were dying from the cold each year. I saw a group trying to do something about this so we met in mid-October to discuss the situation. By December 1, we were an official Lions club and opened the Bethel Winter House. The shelter continues to this day.
Serving the people of Guatemala
My most recent service experience was leading a Humanitarian Service Team to Guatemala in July 2019. The vision screening coordination in Guatemala was jointly arranged by District 49A Alaska Lions and the Jalapa Lions. The team had several components, but the Lions portion consisted of providing reading glasses to 1,717 adults and vision screening to 810 children with 145 referrals.
We left 100 children’s frames and 400 adult readers with the Jalapa Lions to be used as needed. In addition, we spent two days at the Carmelita’s Nuns Compound distributing readers to people in Pinula and in Chontola. A close bond formed between the Jalapa and the Alaskan Lions.
Seeing is believing
A heart-warming moment for me was when I was walking out of the distribution center and saw an elderly gentleman sitting under a tree reading a Bible. He told me he has been waiting 12 years for glasses to read his Bible. This really touched me.
The parents of a six-year-old girl sent us a message that their daughter was having a lot of difficulty in school. After the referral, they took her to an optometrist to discover that her vision was the cause of her problems. Her parents said that had we not been there, they would never have known about her vision problems.
The people of Guatemala welcomed us with warmth and thankfulness, and graciously and willingly shared what little they had with us. I fell in love with the people and the beauty of the land. Right now, I am trying to organize a return trip to Guatemala in February with the Jalapa Lions.
I recently moved and have joined the Sleeping Lady Mountain Lions Club in Eagle River, Alaska, another group of amazing Lions. Being a Lion has been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences in my life.
Lions are changing lives for the better all around the world. Read some of their amazing stories.
Lion Dottie Vasquez is a member of the Sleeping Lady Mountain Lions Club in Alaska.
