Help Girls like Anjana See and Succeed
A little girl clings to her mother’s skirt as they walk along the dirt road of their remote village in southern Nepal. Holding tightly to her mother or father is the only way she can get around.
Her name is Anjana. She was born blind. Her world is dark.
Anjana’s parents make a meagre living farming the arid land with their two buffalo.
In many countries like Nepal, families prioritize their sons’ health and wellbeing over their daughters’. That’s just one of many reasons why 2 out of 3 of the world’s children living with blindness are girls.
Luckily for Anjana, her parents believe she deserves a better future. At the urging of a neighbour, they take Anjana to the nearby Seva-supported hospital.
On the way, Anjana’s mother worries that something will go wrong. “What will happen to Anjana?” she asks her husband. “She will be able to see. That is all that matters,” is his reply.
Anjana sits on her mother’s lap while the doctor examines her. He explains that she was born with cataracts. He also explains that he can help her see.
And that’s exactly what he does. Thanks to the generosity of Seva Canada donors, Anjana receives life-changing cataract surgery free of charge. Surgery her parents wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.
Now, Anjana’s parents are excited for her future. Her father exclaimed “now that Anjana can see, she can read and write. She can work. She has a future!”
Watch Anjana’s story at seva.ca/video/anjanas-story
