There are so many ways to contribute to the greater good of the world these days. You can feed the homeless, give diapers to a struggling single mom with a baby, or help build a house for someone in need. They are all good things.
But in most of these cases, your help is limited to a one time intervention. The impact of your giving is significant to you and to the recipient, but it is not likely that your one donation is going to have a lasting impact.
Optometry Giving Sight is different. They don’t just give someone an eye exam and fit them with glasses and then move on to the next person. They teach men and women all over the world how to assess ocular health and how to screen children for vision problems. They are giving children hope for their futures and giving adults a skill through which they can serve their neighbors and provide for their families.
And this way of impacting the community really touched Finan’s heart. As a child, Finan struggled with vision problems. She knows how hard it is when you can’t see clearly. When she heard about the optometry school opening at Asmara University, she knew she wanted to be part of it.
“I wanted to spend my life serving those people who struggle with vision problems. Doing work like this makes me feel that I am changing people’s lives for the better, so it is extremely fulfilling. I find the program to be truly fascinating. Providing people with the gift of sight really instills hope in them and encourages them to pursue the dreams they thought were long gone. We give them light in life.”
Since 2007 Optometry Giving Sight has donated to well over 100 projects in nearly 40 countries. They have trained teachers in Zambia, optometrists in Haiti, and technicians in Sri Lanka. They have helped fund an eye hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, helped provide eye care to homeless and impoverished individuals in Orange County, USA, and helped upgrade facilities in Ethopia. When a typhoon ravaged the Philippines, they helped fund the screening of 8,106 individuals and provided replacement glasses for 8,083 of them. In Nicaragua, they provide training equipment at a school in Managua where the graduates then return to their home communities and provide care to their neighbors. They just opened the first ever school of Optometry in Haiti.
In short, Optometry Giving Sight does not just give people a pair of glasses. They give hope, encouragement, and a future. Thank you for being part of that mission.
