Guatemala: Dispatches from Gift of Sight camp ~ Dr. Amna Malik

Today we gave a young mother a simple pair of glasses, and later outside the clinic I observed her watching over her kids playing in the park.  She could see their faces.  This happened over and over and over again during this week - giving the gift of sight. 

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Gift of Sight / Humanity First
By Dr. Amna Malik | October 27, 2011

Guatemala: a place I really never thought i would come to.  There has always been a desire to help people in this manner, but somehow the time was never right.   But this experience has exceeded all of my expectations.  It is true that it was difficult getting here with months of planning, leaving my family, a long rocky journey to the clinic, but it was truly worth it.

Although we are only a two and a half hour plane ride away from home, I feel like I am in a different world.  We are in a small village deep in the mountains, and the people are raw, hard working, and gracious.  They have very little, but their life is good.  One morning during my clinic break I was watching the kids play with a ball, and  it struck me that kids were the same everywhere.  All smiles, full of love, no worries, playing with a tattered ball in Guatemala. The laughter from these children was just as contagious as my own kids.


The locals typically get no eye care, no glasses, and no prevention.  If they have poor vision, they adapt.  They walk along the street more slowly, they remember the faces of their loved ones in their heads and their family takes care of them.  Today we gave a young mother a simple pair of glasses, and later outside the clinic I observed her watching over her kids playing in the park.  She could see their faces.  This happened over and over and over again during this week - giving the gift of sight.

- Amna Malik, O.D.


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