"We Will Not Take This for Granted" says Mother
First I would like to thank our company, Luxottica, for giving us this opportunity to participate in the REAP/OneSight project in Yulin, Shaanxi Province. This project’s objective was mainly to distribute free glasses to 350 children from 21 primary school students in Yulin and instruct them on eye health.
| Image
|
| Primary school students in Dingbian lined up to receive their eyeglasses |
On the first day of the project, we joined other REAP volunteers and separated into 7 groups. I was in the 3rd group and our destination was two primary schools in Dingbian, which is one of the most remote areas. Since the schools were so far away, we decided to stay put and travel the next morning. At 7:30am the next day, we left on a 5-hour bus ride to our destination. We quickly ate breakfast and drove for another hour to reach the first primary school. We were surprised to see all the students patiently lined up to receive their new glasses. I laughed when I noticed a little boy staring straight back at me nearly shaking with excitement.
We distributed 26 pairs of glasses in total. Originally I thought that was the total number of children with myopia. It turned out that they were for students in two classes. Fifteen students already had amblyopia, reaching a rate of 34%. Meanwhile, 100% of these children had never worn eyeglasses before, not to mention having their eyes tested. After our conversation with the teachers and parents, we discovered that a lot of them thought the children should not be wearing glasses because the glasses would cause their vision to get worse. We later learned that this school was not randomly selected to receive vision care training. We also learned that the local hospital did not even have eye exam equipment. In a big city like Shanghai, eye exams start as early as kindergarten! After putting on their very first pair of eyeglasses, many children literally screamed with excitement. They could finally see clearly!
| Image
|
| Sibilings modeling their new glasses |
On the second day, we arrived at the Anbian Primary School in Dingbian and distributed 20 more pairs of glasses. We also visited a student’s home. The girl and boy in the above photo are siblings. The parents welcomed us into their 9-square-meter home. All they had in their room was an old table, a charcoal stove, and a toilet. This tiny room hosted all of the family’s activities. We saw a 3-year-old girl eating grilled sunflower seeds. The mother gave us a whole lot of those seeds and told us that they were one of the only delicacies they had in their home. After we told the mother about her children’s eye condition, she was very worried, but was relieved to hear that eyeglasses could fix the problem. When we showed her the two pairs of eyeglasses we had brought for her children, she thanked us earnestly. She even tried on her daughter’s glasses, and was surprised to see that everything is much clearer. “My children are very lucky to receive this generous gift. We will not take this for granted.”