How many times did you just sit there, gazing lovingly at your new baby, watching them sleep, so peacefully, so innocently?

I’m sure you remember the very first moment you laid eyes on your son or daughter. That first glimpse of my precious baby girl is a moment I hope I never forget.

It’s also a moment I’ve reflected on many times. And every time, I’m overwhelmed by a feeling of gratitude.

I’m so grateful that I can SEE my daughter and watch her grow. I see her raise and furrow her eyebrows as she concentrates intently on a new toy. I see her break into a giant smile when I arrive to pick her up from daycare. I see her father reflected in every little expression she makes.

I’m also incredibly grateful that she can SEE me. Sometimes, as I’m rocking with her before bed, she just stares up at me, her beautiful blue eyes piercing my soul. She’ll cradle my cheek in her little hand, just as I’ve done to her many times.

Living in Canada, I know that I’m fortunate to have access to quality health care, and fortunate that eye care is embedded in our health care system. I know all too well that this isn’t the case for millions of people around the world.

One of the very first decisions I had to make as a new mom was whether or not to give my daughter an eye antibiotic to help prevent infection, a routine procedure done right in the hospital after a baby is born. The fact that I even had the option is incredible.

When my daughter was six months old, I excitedly took her to the eye doctor for her first eye exam, which was provided free of cost. When she got her first case of pink eye, I was able to get her a prescription right away. Both times, I felt incredibly lucky to have these services available to me and my family.

Today, my toddler’s (I still can’t believe she’s a toddler already!) favourite accessory is her sunglasses, which she calls her “eyes”. Yes, my girl, you can wear your “eyes” every time we leave the house, as you insist. I’ve been taught how important it is to protect your eyes from the sun, and we’re fortunate to live in a country where we have access to affordable sunglasses and other eyewear.

As Mother’s Day approaches and I reflect on my journey as a new mom, I can’t help but think of the mothers living halfway around the world, suffering from avoidable blindness and trying so desperately to care for their families with limited vision. Many of them don’t know that help is available, or they can’t afford treatment. Often all they need is a simple cataract surgery to restore their sight, their dignity, their hope.

I also think of the moms who are helplessly watching their children suffer from avoidable blindness, worrying what kind of future they’ll have if they can’t see to go to school and someday find employment. Many don’t know that a pair of prescription eyeglasses could transform their child’s life forever.

While it can be easy to be overcome with guilt and sadness as I think of these mothers, I find comfort in knowing this: there is a solution, and I can help.

By supporting Operation Eyesight, I can help these mothers and their children. I can help community health workers screen families for eye health problems and refer patients for care. I can help Operation Eyesight’s partner hospitals provide cataract surgeries, prescription eyeglasses and other treatment free of charge for those in need.

I might never meet the families I am helping, but I know that, as a monthly donor to Operation Eyesight, I’m transforming lives, month after month, year after year.

You can help, too.

This Mother’s Day, I invite you to make a donation in honour of your mother and mothers everywhere. You can even send your mom (or sister, or mother-in-law, or grandma or daughter) a customized eCard when you give a gift in her name.

Every mother has the right to see her child, and every child has the right to see their mother.

Thank you for your support, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms out there!

The post This one’s for all the moms out there… appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

For many of us, our mothers are very special people in our lives. They raised us, loved us unconditionally and looked out for our best interests growing up. For many of us, that’s still true even as adults.

But did you know that in the countries we work in, mothers and their little girls are less likely to get the quality health care they need? This is because women’s health is considered secondary to the rest of the family. And the sad reality is that women are more likely to become blind because of this.

This Mother’s Day, we wanted to ask for your help to change that.

Priscilla lives in Majuli. She’s a dedicated community health worker who helps all the children, women and men in her community with the work she does. She has screened patients for eye health issues and referred them for the treatment they needed, regardless of whether they were men or women. Priscilla has worked hard to make sure everyone in her community receives the treatment they deserve.

Through her work, she was also able to support her family. Now her daughter, Jumi, has become a vision technician at one of our vision centres on the island! And Priscilla’s son was so inspired by his mother’s work with Operation Eyesight and our partner, the Chandraprabha Eye Hospital that he’s registered in their optometry school. This is one great example of the impact of the work made possible by people like you in the most vulnerable communities in the world: an entire family transformed and giving back to their communities! 

Remember Usha? She’s a single mother living in India who cares for two sons and a daughter all on her own. When she lost her sight to cataract, she was devastated. She didn’t know what she would do – She had no money, and she was afraid for herself and her children. She couldn’t distinguish the sugar from the salt in her kitchen anymore. What if her kids starved without her being able to cook for them? 

But the support of kind-hearted people like you turned Usha’s life around with the Gift of Sight! Usha received sight-saving cataract surgery which was free of cost to her and her family!

There are many other mothers like Priscilla and Usha who need your help. Your support today can mean a world of difference to women who desperately need eye care services in their communities.

Please consider donating this Mother’s Day. You could give a tribute gift in your mother’s name to honour her on her special day, and of you could make a donation and send her a beautiful personalized eCard if you like too! From all of us at Operation Eyesight, thank you for all that you do — For All The World To See!

The post Honour mom with a special gift this Mother’s Day appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

This Mother’s Day, I wanted to share a few stories about some loving mothers. Despite blindness, poverty and other hardships, they faced and overcame immense difficulty for the sake of their families!

Melua’s story

This is Melua. She lives in a tiny village in the Maasai Mara in Kenya.

When her eyesight started to deteriorate due to the blinding disease trachoma, Melua was terrified – not only for herself, but for her four young children. Trachoma is a bacterial infection, and when left untreated, the eyelid turns inward, causing the eyelashes to painfully rub against the eyeball. Over time, the disease will eventually cause irreversible blindness.

Suffering with every blink of her eye, Melua’s life was only going to become more challenging.

Since Melua was the youngest in a large extended family, she was expected to work hard milking cows, herding goats, cooking and looking after her children. However, when the pain from the disease was too much to bear, Melua couldn’t keep up with her chores. The other women in her family believed Melua was making excuses to justify laziness. Eventually, they started to pressure Melua’s husband into divorcing her.

Melua was in despair. “What would happen to my children if I became blind and my husband divorced me? They’re so young. They need attention, which they wouldn’t get if I wasn’t there.”

Imagine the hopelessness she must have felt when she had no one to turn to!

But then Melua’s life changed! Thanks to the generous support of people like you, Operation Eyesight’s community health workers came to her village. When they reached Melua’s home and saw her condition, they immediately diagnosed her with trachoma in both eyes. She was referred to one of our partner hospitals to receive eyesight-saving surgery!

Melua can now see… and she can continue caring for her children and contributing to her family!

Jerita’s story

My next story isn’t just about an incredible mother, but a grandmother whose greatest desire was to be able to see her grandchildren after years of living in darkness.

By the time her youngest grandchildren were born, Jerita had already gone blind in both her eyes due to cataracts. She loved her family dearly, and she was heartbroken to think that she would never see the little ones’ faces.

But fate had other plans. Jerita’s life turned around when her eyesight was restored by cataract surgery at our partner hospital. The smile she wore on her face when she got to see her grandchildren for the first time in years is priceless!

See Jerita’s journey out of darkness for yourself here.

Ruth’s story

I also heard a wonderful story about a young mother in Ghana, Ruth, who had a little girl named Judith. When Judith was just a year old, Ruth noticed white spots forming in her baby’s eyes.

Desperate to help her daughter, Ruth sought help from her closest hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). But sadly her health insurance wasn’t enough to cover the total cost of the surgery. Although Ruth worked two jobs, she could barely make ends meet! Frustrated and disheartened, Ruth took her baby home.

For two more years Judith lived in darkness, unable to play with friends, start preschool or see her mother’s face. Ruth would have done anything to help her little one see!

Fortunately, thanks to Operation Eyesight’s strong partnerships in Ghana, we were able to make arrangements with the ophthalmology department at KATH. Thanks to generous donors like you, Judith received cataract surgery totally free of charge to her mother!

Learn more about Ruth and Judith’s story here.

You can help more incredible mothers today!

There are so many other caring mothers in the world — mothers and their children who desperately need eye care services in their communities. Especially this month, I hope you’ll think about them, and how critical eye health is to them.

Please give these mothers and their children the gift of sight today, and help make their world a better place. Mom would be proud!

May is the month to celebrate mothers! Whether your mom is still with you or not, please consider giving a special gift or send a beautiful Mother’s Day eCard in celebration of her. Your generosity would really help women like these, half a world away! And Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

The post The incredible love of a mother appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

This photo shows a heartwarming maternal moment, when one of our favourite mothers and grandmothers, Jerita, saw her baby granddaughter for the first time after cataract surgery. You can learn more about Jerita’s story here.

The post Let’s celebrate Mother’s Day! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.