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.

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I met Mabbula earlier this year while in Hyderabad, where I visited the Rasoolpura slum. Hyderabad may be a glamorous and prosperous place, but like most cities in India, it has large pockets of dire poverty. But here’s the funny thing about India’s slums. Yes, they are squalid and unpleasant, but a slum is not necessarily a dead end. Typically, it is a way-station for people seeking opportunity.

That opportunity came to Mabbula thanks to free training, made possible by Operation Eyesight donors.

This bright young woman serves as the vision technician at the eye clinic in Rasoolpura. When she was a child, her family took full advantage of what education was available in the slum, and Mabbula excelled.

But regardless of her education, she might have lived her life in poverty if she hadn’t learned about the opportunity to be trained at the LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVP), also in Hyderabad. She faced stiff competition for a place in the class, and she had to work hard throughout the accelerated three-month training program. The fact that she is female made the process even more challenging, but she did it.

Mabbula is very good at her job. Not only has she been well-trained, she is part of a network of support and professional development opportunities, with LVP at the hub.

But perhaps most important of all, she is already acquainted with the people who come to her – she’s one of them. They are comfortable discussing their health issues and she gives them information and advice which serves to prevent eye problems in the first place. She is helping her community to be free of avoidable blindness.

When I met with Mabbula, she smiled a lot – it was clear that she is thrilled with her job and very appreciative for the changes in her life. She in turn is helping to change the lives of struggling people around her. To the generous donors who give to Operation Eyesight and made all this possible, Mabbula says thanks.

Vision technicians like Mabbula are desperately needed throughout India. Their ability to provide primary eye care through diagnosis and basic treatment is the foundation of an effective eye health system. You can provide training for someone like Mabbula – visit our online Gift Guide today to learn how.

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