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CLEAR VISION -- THE GIFT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED
How would your lifestyle and livelihood be affected if your
close-up vision was blurry and you couldn't get it corrected?
This is the problem facing over a billion people today in
developing countries worldwide.
All of us begin to experience blurry close-up vision around
age 40. This is a common condition called presbyopia, and
it results from the gradual loss of elasticity in the muscles
around the eye. By age 45, virtually everyone needs a correction
for close-up vision.
In developed countries like the United States, presbyopia
is easily corrected with prescription eyeglasses from an optometrist,
or reading glasses from the pharmacy. But people in developing
countries don't have easy access to eyeglasses, and this creates
a serious problem.
POOR CLOSE-UP VISION MEANS A LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD
Many people in developing countries make their living
with their hands, doing tasks such as fishing, sewing, cooking
or assembly line work. The loss of close-up vision can threaten
their livelihood, and even their survival. At the very least,
their quality of life is seriously compromised when they
can't see well enough to cook, read or enjoy the expressions
on a baby's face.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people over 40 represent
27% of the population in less developed countries - that's
approximately 1.3 billion people with deteriorating
close-up vision who may be at risk of losing their livelihood.
THE UNITED STATES IS NO EXCEPTION
The Census Bureau also reports that
in the United States, 12.4 million people over 45 are in poverty,
so they probably can't afford glasses. Even in the U.S., the
inability to see clearly up-close can be a serious obstacle
to employment and self-sufficiency. Members of our aging homeless
and welfare populations experience greater difficulty rejoining
the mainstream when they can't see well enough to read the
want ads or fill out a job application.
READING GLASSES CAN RESTORE HOPE
RestoringVision.org is a charitable initiative dedicated
to delivering reading glasses to the many underprivileged
people worldwide who so desperately need them. Reading glasses
(powers from +1.00 to +3.50) restore close-up vision, correcting
the problem of presbyopia.
There are numerous organizations
that conduct missions to bring eyewear to people in the U.S.
and developing countries, and they have had great success
in sourcing and supplying prescription eyeglasses. But fully
40% of the glasses they need are reading glasses, and they
never seem to have enough of these.
Our goal is to ensure that optical missions going to developing
countries and impoverished neighborhoods in the U.S. have
enough reading glasses to meet patient needs.
ORDERING GLASSES
If you wish to order glasses or learn
more about ordering them, use this link: order
now.
For our records, please let us know where you are going
and what group you are going with by using the following
link: info@restoringvision.org
Thank you.
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