One of the workers at Acacia Village came up to me and said "please madam, glasses" He spoke no english. I took his hand and walked him over to one of the other boys who spoke a bit more english and asked him to help us translate. What I learned is that he is blind in one eye and is near and far sighted in the other. He basically can't see at all. He had this old pair of glasses that did not help him see close or far and asked if I could please help him to see better. WELL- it became my mission to help this kid get glasses. My first call was to our friend in Soddo, Harry, who is an eye dr. He said it would be hard to find bi-focals in Addis but to try the German eye clinic. So I told him to take a bus to our hotel in the morning and Haddeush and I would go with him to the German eye clinic...no luck. They did not make bifocals. Next we went to another eye place -not sure where we were- but they did not make them either and told us basically you can't get bifocals in Ethiopia- CRAZY! I mean they are just glasses- available all over the world and these poor people can't even get glasses! SO we decided to just by 2 pairs of glasses for him- one near sighted and one far sighted. The glasses were $140. I used some of the donated money I had collected! It was so great to see that donated money go to such a great cause! This sweet boy can now see! He never could have saved enough money to buy the glasses himself. I think the ones he had were just glasses given to him that were not even for his prescription!! I praised him for asking for help and told him I know that is not an easy thing to do. Seeing his smile when we ordered the glasses was one of my favorite moments on the trip!! Knowing we all came together to make a differnce in someone's life is such an amazing humble moment I will not soon forget.
One of the workers at Acacia Village came up to me and said "please madam, glasses" He spoke no english. I took his hand and walked him over to one of the other boys who spoke a bit more english and asked him to help us translate. What I learned is that he is blind in one eye and is near and far sighted in the other. He basically can't see at all. He had this old pair of glasses that did not help him see close or far and asked if I could please help him to see better. WELL- it became my mission to help this kid get glasses. My first call was to our friend in Soddo, Harry, who is an eye dr. He said it would be hard to find bi-focals in Addis but to try the German eye clinic. So I told him to take a bus to our hotel in the morning and Haddeush and I would go with him to the German eye clinic...no luck. They did not make bifocals. Next we went to another eye place -not sure where we were- but they did not make them either and told us basically you can't get bifocals in Ethiopia- CRAZY! I mean they are just glasses- available all over the world and these poor people can't even get glasses! SO we decided to just by 2 pairs of glasses for him- one near sighted and one far sighted. The glasses were $140. I used some of the donated money I had collected! It was so great to see that donated money go to such a great cause! This sweet boy can now see! He never could have saved enough money to buy the glasses himself. I think the ones he had were just glasses given to him that were not even for his prescription!! I praised him for asking for help and told him I know that is not an easy thing to do. Seeing his smile when we ordered the glasses was one of my favorite moments on the trip!! Knowing we all came together to make a differnce in someone's life is such an amazing humble moment I will not soon forget.
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