CRANBERRY TWP — A father and son team from Dutilh United Methodist Church, 1270 Dutilh Road, helped a thousand Zimbabweans to a better looking future this summer.

Mark Boyer and his 17-year-old son, Logan, a Mars High School junior, spent three weeks in Africa in July working at the Nyadire United Methodist Mission in the northeastern section of the South African nation.

“We had 2,000 pairs of used eyeglasses we had gathered in Western Pennsylvania through churches,” said Boyer of Treesdale.

Eyeglasses are donated to Mission Vision, a Cranberry Township-based nonprofit group that collects used eyeglasses, tests them and refurbishes them.

Volunteers who are visiting a country are trained how to measure individuals for glasses, Boyer said.

Boyer said he and his son worked to match eyeglasses to recipients while staying at the mission.

Boyer said, “You were trained to use the eye chart, then you used optometrist’s paddles on each eye to get them close to 20/20.”

Boyer said the paddles had lenses embedded in them, and Zimbabweans would look through each until they found the lenses that gave them the clearest sight.

“Then we would search through the 2,000 pairs of glasses,” said Boyer.

“We knew which bag to go into. That was probably the most rewarding part is when you put glasses on people who couldn’t see correctly.”

The eye exams and glass giveaways made for a long day, said Boyer.

“We had long lines every day throughout the first week and the first weekend,” he said.

“We probably had nearly 1,000 people who had walked 45 to 50 kilometers just to get the glasses.

“If we were there at 6 in the morning, there was a line at 6 in the morning,” said Boyer. “If you stayed to 6 at night, there would be a line at 6 at night.”

Boyer said Logan also worked at the mission’s orphanage.

“He did a lot of stuff with the orphanage. He went to the schools and read quite a bit. He is 17 and he saw a part of the world that he probably won’t see again,” he said.

Elsa Sollers, a member of Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park, said Nyadire United Methodist Mission “is like a college campus. It has a hospital and nursing school. At the other end are schools with classes from preschool to high school. In between is an orphanage and teachers college.”

The mission also supports six remote clinics and numerous medical outposts, Sollers said.

“I first visited in 2006. I fell in love with the people and decided it wasn’t going to be a one-time thing,” she said.

“The more people that go over there, the more they want to be involved. I’ve been there three times. It is a place I would call my second home and I’ve been to 31 countries in this world.”

Faith Geer, a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Allison Park, said the 56-church Pittsburgh District has been sponsoring the mission for 10 years. She was the liaison between Mission Vision and the district and was one of the group to go to Zimbabwe in July.

“It’s more like a camp environment. It’s all dirt roads. It was built by the British in the 1950s. People live in one-story brick ranch houses. It was fun to have a 17-year-old along.”

Boyer said he picked up a brochure at church about the Nyadire mission and decided to go with Logan as a father/son trip.

After flying into the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, the Boyers took a two-hour truck ride to the mission.

“Seventy-six percent of the population is unemployed in this area. People that do work are teachers or they go into the military or run a small business,” said Boyer.

“They are extremely joyful people to have what they have. They are Christians and they have a deep faith in God. The church is a very strong institution. You go to church on Sunday, you don’t stay home. I believe the people have a lot of hope that things are going to get better and that hope is based on their religious belief.”