A Thousand Miles

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Gao Gege's enthusiasm for the REAP/OneSight project was contagious

We had the pleasure of meeting an 11-year-old girl named Gao Gege at Peijiawan Central Primary School in Zizhou County located in Shaanxi Province. She has a lovely name, as well as a lovely personality. When our team arrived at her school, she was one of the first students to greet us. We soon understood the source of her boundless energy and spirit.

Both of Gege’s parents never went to school and depend on farming for their livelihood. Times have been tough, but even when there was a poor harvest, they made sure that Gege had a clean school uniform and sharpened pencils. “Education is your future,” they chided whenever she tried to help in the fields instead of finishing her homework.

It is no wonder that Gege rose to the top of her class. However, her grades have slipped in the past year. She has been too afraid to tell her parents, but she has trouble seeing the blackboard, where all the class notes and homework assignments are written. She tried to memorize the lessons, but there was simply too much to remember. She felt too embarrassed to borrow notes from her classmates.

When we initially asked her parents if they would help Gege redeem the voucher and get her glasses they said, “We would travel a thousand miles to restore our daughter’s eyesight and brighten her future!”

Gege was overjoyed when our opticians told her that simply putting on a pair of eyeglasses would restore her vision. We laughed as she tried on eyeglass frames, sometimes three or four pairs at a time while making funny faces at her classmates. Her enthusiasm was contagious and made our work a lot easier! Eventually, she settled on a pair of purple frames—her favorite color. This was back in September. In mid-October, her custom-fitted eyeglasses were waiting for her at Xi’an Tide Eye Hospital.

Gege can exchange the voucher we gave her for her free eyeglasses at any time. Her teacher informed us that she can hardly wait! Her parents have arranged for her uncle to take her into the city with him next month and after she picks up her eyeglasses, a family friend will bring her back to Zizhou. When we initially asked her parents if they would help Gege redeem the voucher and get her glasses they said, “We would travel a thousand miles to restore our daughter’s eyesight and brighten her future!”