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.

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To a first-time visitor, India seems overwhelming – the masses of people, the riot of colour. To a Canadian like me, it seemed like chaos, but the truth is there is a practical and deep order to things. I went to India with an open heart and mind, and was rewarded with an overwhelming appreciation of this ancient land.

I visited several of Operation Eyesight’s partner hospital programs over the course of two weeks, but the one that keeps coming to mind is Little Flower Hospital in Kerala on the southern tip of India.

An amazing facility in many ways, I instantly took note of its forest location – the recently built tower is fronted by an urban street, but a vast, undeveloped forest stretches out at the back. It reminded me of the Jungle Book! I was struck by the way in which Indians live in the modern world, but also in the natural world – they try to embrace the best of both.

Similarly, the people of India seem comfortable acknowledging the past while also moving into the future. What I observed in the people I met at the hospital and in the community was a sense of hopefulness and progress. But they measure that progress over generations, not just over a lifetime.

Little Flower hospital itself is an amazing model of efficiency, but again, it’s different from North America. Picture hundreds of people in the hallways, all of them moving purposefully. I later learned that great thought had been put into the design of the facility, allowing an easy flow through the diagnosis and treatment process.

Despite the number of patients and staff, there was no apparent chaos. Except for us – as visitors, we were swimming upstream. Our guide was giggling because we were the ones creating havoc!

There’s more to the story. Next week, in part 2, I’ll talk about how the Indian view of progress connects with Operation Eyesight’s values.

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