Worth Sharing

WS

Stories That Matter

"I can see!" Guatemala Residents Given New Eyeglasses

"I can see!" Guatemala Residents Given New Eyeglasses
This remote village in Guatemala has just received the type of humanitarian aid that can make a real difference: hundreds and hundreds of eyeglasses.

Over 600 people in this tiny corner of Guatemala have been given 720 pairs of reading and distance vision glasses, as well as 332 sets of sunglasses.

"We need a lot of help here," says Hubert Ayala, a resident of San Agustin, a remote, colonial village in Central Guatemala. Located over 50 miles to the northeast of the capital city, the region has few resources, its residents live on less than two dollars a day, few have running water or electricity, and poor vision problems are widespread.

International Relief Teams (IRT), a San Diego-based nonprofit organization working to alleviate suffering from poverty and disasters around the world, is helping to abate this problem in this region of Guatemala and is changing lives in the process.

During the course of five days, IRT's team of volunteers visited the town and screened its residents for correct vision prescriptions.

In this photo, a woman is amazed by how clearly she can see with a new pair of eyeglasses.

About author

Be the first to comment

Leave a Comment