For a senior citizen, developing cataracts must be a shock, especially after a lifetime of relatively good vision. Think of the things you’d miss if you couldn’t see… family and friends, pets, reading, cooking, the beauties of nature and the bright blue sky.

Now, imagine you live in India or Africa, where many families are too poor to save for even a one-time surgery like a cataract operation. Even if family members are able to come up with the money, they may be unwilling to spend on surgery for elders, especially women. It’s a sad reality in developing countries: even though cataract occurs slightly more often in women, there is often gender inequality in those who actually receive surgery.

Luckily, this was not the case for 75-year old Meena Davi. Meena lives in the village of Goshal, in the high mountain ranges of Himachal Pradesh, India.

Over the past five years, she developed cataracts in both eyes, making her completely blind and unable to perform day-to-day activities.

“My life came to a standstill; it was all dark,” Meena explains. “I could not move about and was confined to a small space. I had to call someone from the family to accompany me, even to the bathroom.”

Though her family is poor, her son-in-law took time off work to accompany Meena to Maya Dass Shiv Dass Rotary Eye Hospital in hopes that the staff could help her.

Thanks to Operation Eyesight’s generous donors, Meena had cataract surgery on both eyes over the span of a couple of weeks. Now, she can see again!

“I am very thankful to everyone who contributed to bringing this hospital to such a remote and mountainous region. Thanks to the hospital, I have a second life,” Meena says.

“My family and I are grateful to the people of Canada, whose generosity helped bring us this hospital that is giving quality services in this area.”

Thank you to our donors for supporting Maya Dass Shiv Dass Rotary Eye Hospital and giving people like Meena a future free from avoidable blindness!

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