The Jean-Pierre Tchang Award was created in 2009 to highlight, annually, the exceptional contribution of one of our volunteers to the IRIS Mundial mission. For 2021, the award was given to Dr. Élaine Giasson, optometrist. The award was presented to her during the IRIS Mundial 20th anniversary event. For this occasion, Dr. Marie-Chantal Hudon and Mihaela Mara-Somogyi, volunteers and colleague of Élaine, had prepared a beautiful speech and a very moving song for her. Élaine was not present at the 20th anniversary party, so thanks to the complicity of her husband Alain, the beautiful surprise was revealed to her remotely.
Élaine participated in more than 7 missions with IRIS Mundial, including the last one in Senegal in November 2018. Élaine is a person who enjoys having fun and who has a contagious laugh! “She is a valuable asset to us because when a problem arises, she has the ability to analyze it in its entirety and always suggest solutions” as per Marie-Chantal Hudon. In addition to her involvement in the missions, Élaine assumes several roles within the organization: She is a member of working committees on new project development, she works on the proofreading of official documents and she is a member of the administration council since September 2016, among other involvements. At her store, Élaine also frequently coordinates the work of her employees for IRIS Mundial. Indeed, they meticulously sort, clean, repair and analyze used glasses, before sending them to us.
Thank you Élaine for your dedication!
