Author Statement: Linda Pruessen
Audience: Juvenile
Age range lower: 9
Age range upper: 13
Specs: full color photographs throughout, glossary, index
Pages: 64
Trim Size: 9" X 9" X 3/16"
Language code 1: eng
Publication Date: 20150814
Copyright Year: 2015
Saving Eyesight: Adventures of Seva Around the World
Being able to see is central to learning, socialization and earning a living. In many developing and impoverished countries throughout the world, blindness is prevalent because there is no access to health and eye care. Simple, easily resolved eye problems are left undiagnosed and untreated causing untold suffering and costing the world billions annually. Five conditions (cataract, refractive errors/low vision, trachoma, onchocerciasis, and vitamin A deficiency/other causes) are responsible for 75 percent of all blindness. For each of these, effective and cost-efficient intervention strategies are available. Two hundred million people could see tomorrow if they had access to eye care. A $50 cataract surgery taking 15 minutes will restore sight. A pair of prescription glasses will bring the world into focus.
In this lively travelogue chronicling the efforts of Seva, an international development agency, readers will learn about how the eye works and how eye problems are corrected. Illustrations reveal how the eyes work to transmit images to the brain. Readers will be touched by the true stories of those who have discovered sight after living in blindness.
Seva Canada is a Vancouver-based charitable organization whose mission is to restore sight and prevent blindness in the developing world. Seva works in 13 of the world's poorest places: Nepal, Tibet/China, India, Africa (Malawi, Madagascar, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania), Guatemala, Cambodia and Egypt. Since 1982, Seva Canada has helped more that 3.5 million people see again.
Proceeds of the sale of Saving Eyesight will be donated to Seva Canada.
| Bio: | Linda Pruessen is an editor and writer. She has worked on numerous projects during her twenty years in publishing, including How to Raise Monarch Butterflies and Saving Turtles. She lives in the Toronto area with her husband and two children. |
| Preface: | Introduction Look around. What do you see? Maybe there are other people nearby, or maybe you're looking out the window at a big yellow sun in a bright blue sky. Can you pick out all the colors of the rainbow? Do you see how the light changes as the leaves of a tree blow in the breeze, or clouds pass over the sun? For many people, the way we interact with the world is dependent upon sight. What we see when we look outside helps us figure out how to dress. We keep our eyes open when we walk down the sidewalk on the way to school so we don't bump into things. We read words on pages, screens and chalkboards to gain knowledge. Street signs help us figure out how to get where we're going. It's frightening to imagine what life would be like if we couldn't see. But for many people, that scary thought is a reality. Right now, 285 million people around the world are visually impaired, and 39 million of those people are blind. Nearly 90 percent of blind people live in developing countries, where their lack of vision leaves them struggling for life's most basic needs, and keeps them trapped in poverty. That sounds like pretty bad news--and it is--but there's also some good news: 80 percent of visual impairment can be treated, prevented or cured. Surgery can cure blindness. Glasses can correct visual impairment. Medicine can prevent blindness and treat eye disease. If everyone had access to good medical care and treatment, 31 million people who are struggling with blindness today would be able to see. And when more people are able to lead healthy, productive lives, entire communities have a chance at a better future. In the pages that follow, you'll learn how organizations like Seva* are working hard to help the world's poorest people regain their sight, and, in the process, changing lives for the better. You'll learn how your eyes work (hint: they're pretty incredible) and about what can go wrong. And you'll learn how you can help. *Seva is a Sanskrit word meaning work performed without thought or repayment. In ancient India, Seva was believed to help one's spiritual growth and also contribute to the improvement of a community.
Seva Canada |
| TOC: | Contents
Chapter 1
Eye Facts and Figures Eye Care Through the Years A Visit to the Eye Doctor When Things Go Wrong
Chapter 2
When Children Can't See Women and Blindness
Chapter 3
India Nepal Tibet Cambodia Tanzania Madagascar Burundi Malawi Guatemala Egypt
Chapter 4
Glossary |
