Meet Alejandro, a friendly 75-year-old man from Guatemala who loves to tell stories of the past. He often talks about the progress his community has made since the decades-long genocide back in the 1990’s, which had affected indigenous communities of Guatemala for years. Now, after raising five children who have families of their own, Alejandro lives with his wife in the mountains where they work as farmers. To support his family, he walks nearly five hours to sell their oranges, sugar cane, and peanuts in the next town over.
Alejandro has been steadily losing his vision for the past several years. After working many years as a farmer–everyday from sunrise to sunset–he assumed that his worsening vision was just a normal part of growing old. However, when Alejandro was referred to an eye specialist, he learned that he had developed cataracts– a cloudy build-up of protein in the eye lenses.
Though this condition is common and simple to treat with surgery, many rural Guatemalans do not have access to adequate medical resources. But for $1500, doctors at Wuqu’ Kawoq will perform an operation to remove the cloudy lenses in Alejandro’s eyes and replaces them with new artificial ones.
This treatment will restore Alejandro’s vision, giving him the ability to be more independent in doing what he loves: agriculture. He is already incredibly excited to have better vision, and he says that it has made him excited to be alive.
“When I heard that there was a possibility that I could improve my vision, I got really happy,” Alejandro shares, “I will feel like I am young again and that I will be able to continue working in what I love, which is agriculture.”
