Eyeglasses help make dreams a reality

Written by Soumya Moosa, published on March 9, 2021 Donate Today

Vaishali is a 19-year-old girl who lives in Berasia, Madhya Pradesh, India with her grandparents and younger sister She is pursuing higher education and is preparing for the 12 standard exam. A good result on the exam will ensure her dream to study at a reputed university is realized.

Unfortunately, she struggled with her studies over the last year due to her vision impairment. It is also impacted her daily life and made things like household activities and supporting her uncle in his business difficult. Unable to concentrate on her studies for very long without getting a terrible headache, her dreams to attend university seemed out of reach.

Vaishali and her family knew that her struggles were the result of vision impairment, but they didn’t know of any eye health facilities in their area, so they had nowhere to turn to for help. They grew increasingly worried with each passing day. In rural villages, education is often not a priority, especially for girls. Vaishali’s family had all made sacrifices to ensure that she could pursue her education and become independent, but now it looked like that future was slipping away.

Vaishali and her family with Monika

Fortunately, the family was visited by Monika, a community health worker from our partner Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital in Bairagarh, Bhopal. She was doing routine door-to-door eye screenings in the village as part of Operation Eyesight’s community eye health initiative. Through the screening done by Monika, Vaishali learned that she had refractive error in both eyes. Simply put, she needed spectacles.

Monika advised Vaishali to visit a nearby vision center (the primary eye care center linked to Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital) to have her eyes examined by an optometrist. Vaishali visited the vision center along with her family, where they felt very hopeful after they were counselled by the vision technician. She received a comprehensive eye check-up and also a pair of prescription eyeglasses.

Vaishali writing notes wearing her new eyeglasses

Vaishali’s dreams are now back on track. The spectacles have given her a chance for a brighter future, thanks to donors like you.

According to The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, 90 percent of vision loss is preventable or treatable. Due to lack of accessible and affordable eye care facilities, the burden of sight loss in India is increasing. Please donate today to help more people like Vaishali realize their dreams.