Watching the destruction in Japan makes me think of one thing: Haiti. While the two island nations couldn’t be more different in terms of culture, economic structure and stability, the human emotion involved is, I think, universal. Watching a scene unfold of a Japanese man who has just realized his son and his son’s family have perished, I’m reminded of a similar scene I watched in Haiti of a woman realizing she was the only member of her household to escape the earthquake with her life.
Material things suddenly seem so unimportant to me, as I’m reminded of these people who don’t have shelter or clean water to drink. Looking at pre-earthquake pictures of Haiti, it’s easy to see what little material goods they had to begin with and the chaos that already existed. It’s a notion that hasn’t left me. So many organizations were already providing aid to Haitians, serving food, building homes, taking in orphans, and more.
While I can’t claim to doing anything profound to help Haiti, it’s something that’s always in the back of my mind. That’s why when I discovered how many pairs of prescription eyeglasses I had going unused, I knew exactly what I was going to do with them. After doing some research and making a few phone calls, I will be sending a package of very-gently-used prescription glasses to the Haitian Health Foundation, which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the poor, sick and infirm in Haiti.
If you’re in the Twin Cities and have very gently used eyeglasses to donate, I just might be persuaded to come pick them up from you to add to my outgoing package. If you’re not in the Twin Cities but would still like to donate frames, email me for details.
-- Alicia
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