An Estimated 10% of the world’s population are like Wubit Habtie, visually impaired but without any access to eye care services and spectacles.
Wubit Habtie is a 35 year old teacher at Amba Giorgis primary school, in northern Ethiopia. For the past 8 years, Wubit has been teaching biology to mostly grade 7 with her class size averaging to 60 pupils from the age of 12-16 years.
Currently 2,300 students attend Amba Giorgia Primary school and rely on teachers like Wubit Habtie to give them an education so they can have a brighter future.
However, two years ago Wubit began to notice deterioration in her close sight, causing her problems when seeing the blackboard and marking books. Her poor vision made it very difficult for her to teach and do her job!
For the past 30 years, the U.K. Charity, Vision Aid Overseas, has been fighting poverty in developing countries by transforming access to eye care services and spectacles by utilising the skills of Professional Optical Volunteers from the UK to help establish Vision Centres, train local eye care workers and deliver outreach services in remote areas such as Amba Giorgis, Ethiopia.
Fortunately for Wubit, our volunteers were in the country and helping at the Vision Centre nearby Gondar and today, they were visiting the health clinic in Amba Giorgis.
Having been tested and prescribed with her first pair of reading spectacles, Wubit returned to her school to continue teaching her class.
Writing on the blackboard is now easier. Marking books is no longer a daily struggle. Wubit Habtie and her grade 7 class at Amba Giorgis primary school are forever thankful for the work of Vision Aid Overseas.
Without clear vision children can’t learn to get an education and adults can’t earn to care for their families and contribute to their communities. However, you can make all the difference today by helping many more people like Wubit Habtie see their way to a brighter future.
Please visit www.visionaidoverseas.org, to find out more about their life transforming work and how you can help.
