“One year ago Pun developed a cataract in each eye. This causes her blurred vision, tearing, irritation, and she is afraid of sunshine. It is hard for her to recognize faces, do work well, or go anywhere outside by herself,” explains Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC), our medical partner. Pun is a 73-year-old woman from Cambodia with two daughters and 10 grandchildren. “She enjoys visiting the pagoda to hear the monks pray and doing work around her home,” shares CSC. Cataracts occur as proteins develop in the lens of the eye, causing cloudiness. Without treatment, the cloudiness increases over time and results in slowly deteriorating vision. They can ultimately result in total blindness, and are especially common in regions near the equator due to high UV exposure. $225 covers the cost of a treatment to repair her cataracts. In each of her eyes, doctors will make a small incision to surgically remove the clouded lens and replace it with a new, artificial lens. In Pun’s own words, “I hope my eye can see everything more clearly than now so I can easily go the pagoda, or anywhere else by myself, and I can easily do work by myself as well.”