In Guatemala, the story of one midwife’s renewed ability to see clearly and its infinite ripple effects on her community shows the widespread impact that a pair of eyeglasses can have on so many lives. As a leader in her community and the only midwife, Maria provides a critical health service to people in need of medical care as they experience childbirth – one that is even more important for her village as the nearest hospital is a great distance away.
When we met Maria, she struggled to see clearly and had difficulty performing her work as a midwife. Through our program which we brought to her village, she received a vision screening and pair of reading glasses at no cost. Her renewed sight empowered her to not only continue to help women deliver their babies in her community, it also inspired her to pay it forward and strengthen her village by training others to become midwives. Maria was incredibly proud of this and estimates she was able to deliver between 90 and 130 babies the following year because her vision had been corrected with the reading glasses she received through RestoringVision’s program. Without her expertise in midwifery in her local community, and without her ability to see clearly, people would have had to travel more than 3 hours to reach the nearest hospital, which is an added economic burden and stress on the woman and family.
The impact of clear vision on one midwife’s life and the lives of women and families in her village is profound. In this case, one pair of reading glasses for the local midwife provided good health and well-being for a multitude of people – and their precious newborn babies.
