Gift of sight for the underprivileged

To be blessed with eyesight without a problem is something that most of us in the city take for granted, but for most of our own countrymen both young and old who live in the most rural and distant areas of Sri Lanka, it can be a gift beyond measure. On October 1, the people of Bakamoona, a village approximately 70 km from Matale became the beneficiaries of the Vision 1000 programme of the John Keells Group Social Responsibility Foundation. The eye camp was held at the Bakamoona Mahasen Madya Maha Vidyalaya.

Organized by the Lions Club of Bakamoona, District 306 C1 and sponsored by the Vision 1000 programme of the JKG CSR Foundation, the eye camp was attended by around 174 people from and around the village mainly consisting of poor farmers.

They came with a hope of regaining a part of their sight, which would give them a further hope of easing their already difficult way of life.

We talk to some of the residents at the camp and are moved by what we hear; the plight that our own people in this country go through, unknown to most of us. Furthermore it is even sadder when we realize that these are some of the very people who sustain us, by providing something which we really need for our survival -- food.

They the farmers are indeed the providers of life to us, the people who live out here in Colombo and suburbs with a lot of comfort. We are hardly ever conscious about the effort that goes into growing vegetables, the rice which is the staple food of most Sri Lankans. “We are in debt till the day we die”, says one villager giving us an idea of the plight these Sri Lankans go through every day of their lives.

The roads are dusty and these villagers don’t have sunglasses to protect them from the sun and also from the dust that gets into their eyes. They do not have any fans to reduce the effects of the extreme heat and the scorching sun. Yet these are the conditions that these people lead their daily lives. We see a truck load of fresh tomatoes passing by on the dusty road. When inquired about where this produce is destined for, one villager tells us that it is to the Dambulla market, however with a helpless look on his face.

On inquiring further the villager tells us, “Sir, it would be great if we can sell these tomatoes for at least at Rs. 10 a kilo, but we cannot. We don’t get a fair price for our produce and even at that price we don’t make any profit for our livelihood”.

Some of the other villagers echoed the same sentiments indicating that sometimes there are no takers in the Dambulla market for their produce and they are forced to leave behind the produce with the vendors “hoping” that they would be sold subsequently. In most cases, the outcome is that the farmers are told that no buyers were found and the produce thrown away at the market due to them being spoilt. The farmers return home with “nothing” in their hands. This is what they have got in return for months of hard work in the fields, in the hot sun without even the basic necessities.This is how they become “Debtors for Life”. Back in the school compound where the people have patiently lined up to get their eye sight checked, we see a smile on each and every person.

They are happy, even for a while that there are indeed those who care, to give them a hope of regaining something which they need so much, their eyesight. A total of 34 villagers were selected to go through Cataract Operations funded by the JKG CSR Foundation and many more to be provided with spectacles.

The next time when you are out buying vegetables, rice, etc… be it at a “supermarket” or at a “pola”, whenever we are having a meal whether at home or at a restaurant, let us at least think, be conscious and be appreciative of the people who produced this food, the hard lives that they go through to sustain us. After all, without “food”, where would we be?

The John Keells Group Social Responsibility Foundation helps these people and others across the country who need care and help in a manner that can be sustained, going beyond a mere donation or a handout.

A team from Chaaya Citadel participated in the eye camp at Bakamoona this time that came with eagerness to help out these villagers in their own little way by means of providing refreshments.