Every day, 10-year-old Benjamin in Kenya proudly leads his family’s goats out to graze, a chore that once seemed unthinkable, because from a young age, Benjamin was blind.

Benjamin lives with his parents and six siblings in the village of Olookitareti in Kajiado County. The family struggles financially; Benjamin’s father Joshua has a chronic illness, while his mother, who lives with a disability, does her best to manage their livestock herds while also caring for the children.

In 2023, a local disability advocacy group referred Benjamin to a special needs boarding school, where he learned to read braille. His parents were grateful that he would receive an education, but they still worried about his future.

The following year, a community health worker identified cataracts in Joshua’s eyes during a door-to-door screening and referred him to our surgical camp. He took Benjamin along, hoping for a diagnosis for the child as well.

At the camp, Benjamin was also diagnosed with cataracts and referred to our pediatric cataract camp happening at another facility. But on the day of the camp, he didn’t show up. The outreach team made calls to the family to track him down, but their calls went unanswered. Finally, our community health promoter located Benjamin at his school. She later discovered that the family had lost their phone.

Recognizing the urgency of Benjamin’s condition, our outreach team contacted the family’s close friend, Pastor Titus, who accompanied Benjamin to the surgical camp with the family’s blessing.

Thanks to the support of our partners and donors like you, Benjamin successfully underwent surgery and had his vision restored. Joshua also underwent surgery and can now see clearly.

Now, Benjamin attends a regular primary school, confidently tackling Grade I. He reads and writes with ease and loves to join soccer games with the other children in the village.

His parents are grateful that Benjamin can now live up to his full potential.

Written with files from Patrick Wainaina Muthii.

This holiday season, consider giving the Gift of Sight to transform lives for more children like Benjamin!

Fifteen-year-old Pushpita lives with her family just outside of Shivrampur, Namkhana in West Bengal, India. She has big dreams and knows that a good education will help make them come true, so she gives everything she’s got to succeed in her Grade 9 studies. 

But Pushpita’s ambitions are overshadowed with worry when she arrives at school. She’s been silently struggling as she notices more and more that her vision is not as clear as it once was. Reading the blackboard has become challenging, but she keeps her worries to herself, hoping her eyesight will miraculously improve on its own. 

Can you imagine being in class and the other kids raise their hands, eager to answer the teacher’s questions, excited to demonstrate what they’ve learned, while you can’t even make out what’s been written on the blackboard? Pushpita is isolated by her condition… 

Until one day she shows up to school to see an eye screening camp, organized by Sundarban Eye Hospital with support from Operation Eyesight. Though she hesitates at first, Pushpita participates once she sees her peers doing the same. It is nice to feel like part of the group again. 

And things get even better once her eyes are checked – Pushpita simply needs glasses! Thrilled that she’s found a solution to her problem, she hurries to the Namkhana Vision Centre to which she’s been referred. 

Pushpita’s eyes widen with astonishment and she brims with happiness as she dons her brand-new glasses – her world suddenly comes into focus.  

Thanks to the support of our donors and partners, Pushpita is now the first to proudly raise her hand in class. Not only has her vision improved, but she also feels confident and included again.  

But there are many more people like Pushpita waiting for their chance to see the world in all its beauty and experience its possibilities. 

Please donate today so we can continue to transform lives through the Gift of Sight.