As Director of Policy and Planning for International Programs, most of my international relationships are maintained by phone or email. How did we ever manage without the internet? I have been to India and Africa, and I can confirm how rich and diverse these places are. Yes, there are language and culture gaps between my world and theirs, but the bigger gap is one of prosperity. Those with limited means, the poor of the tropical world, struggle with life-and-death issues that I can only imagine.

How do they manage? It’s all about family – the way that mothers, brothers, uncles and aunts all look out for one another, from the youngest to the oldest. For many, their social safety net is each other.

Someone once asked me if the poor of India are sad. I can’t answer that question, but I can say that many of the people I’ve seen on the streets of Mumbai or in the slums of Hyderabad are industrious and highly motivated, regardless of their station in life.

Imagine being really poor, living under a tarp by the side of the road and then one day, making enough money to move into a hut with a solid roof – that’s progress! Family forms the foundation of their lives and these people often make great sacrifices for one another – they take nothing for granted.

Yes, there are differences between Canada and the developing world, but family is important everywhere. Here in Alberta (and also in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario), we even have a statutory holiday called Family Day, which occurs every year on the third Monday of February. If you’re celebrating it this weekend, we hope you enjoy the extra time with your family.

At Operation Eyesight, we’ve come to see that family and community – social interconnectedness – is the key to addressing the deep issues behind visual impairment and other health problems. Right now in India, we are hiring people of limited means, and training them to work alongside their neighbours in the poor sections of urban and rural India. Using their own social networks, these Community Health Workers are conveying the message that blindness is not inevitable, so that people get the help they need. In this way, entire families, neighbourhoods and villages are helped to grow in health and prosperity.

To learn more about the places where this is happening, visit the Programs and Projects section of our website.

The post Family forms the foundation appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

I currently serve Operation Eyesight as vice-president of Advancement, but back in 2002, I was volunteering on the Board of Directors. In that year I made my first visit to Africa and India to learn what was happening, and I took a lot of photographs. Two shots really stand out.

One photo shows me with a group of children from Zambia. Whenever I see this one, it reminds me of the contrasts between me and these kids (age, height, colour, nationality, etc.) but also of the things we share in common. When it gets right down to it, we’re not so different. These kids have tremendous energy, enthusiasm and initiative, and their hopes for the future are basically the same as mine.

Although I may never see them again, I am confident that these kids turned into fine young adults. My role in their lives, as a stranger who came to visit, was momentary. But my interest in their lives, and in their country, has only strengthened over the years. Through my colleagues in Zambia I know for a fact that the work of Operation Eyesight is bringing lasting improvements. Yes, I made a contribution to their lives, but meeting them changed my life too.

The same goes for a group of kids from a slum in Mumbai, India. I love this photograph – I have it displayed on the wall of my office.

I was walking down a narrow street with a stream of waste water running down the middle, when three girls appeared on the opposite side. Their faces were beaming, so I reached around to get the camera out of my bag. When I turned back around, three kids had turned into 10, as if out of thin air. The group happily posed for the camera and then they scattered, back through the warren of alleyways and tiny dwellings.

What impressed me was their health and happiness. Aren’t slum people supposed to be wretched? That puzzled me at the time, but now it makes sense – for kids like these, the slum is only their present, it’s not their future. And they know it.

Photographs like these help me remember that when people work together, amazing things can happen. But you don’t have to travel to India or Africa to be a force for change in their lives. Your concern and care can take many forms, such as financial gifts. And through Operation Eyesight they are having the intended effect, which is to build communities that are free of the threat of blindness and low vision.

If you would like to help children like these see a brighter future, the opportunity to make a gift in 2011 is drawing to a close. In order to receive a 2011 tax receipt, please make your donation before December 31 using the convenience of online giving.

The post Picturing a brighter future appeared first on Operation Eyesight.