When you give the Gift of Sight, not only are you helping to restore sight for individuals, but you’re also helping to prevent blindness for entire communities. Communities like Chitope in central Zambia.
The Chitope water point is one of 20 defunct boreholes that Operation Eyesight-trained teams are rehabilitating across the district, thanks to a team of 20 pump minders we have trained to repair and upgrade dysfunctional boreholes.
For the 350 households in the area, this work could not come soon enough. Chitope has been without a local, clean water source for the past four years. This means women and girls have had to travel long distances to rivers and shallow wells, where water is often not safe to drink.
“Lack of fresh water in this community has in the past prevented the expansion of local health and education facilities. This means women and children have been receiving health services in a thatched hut, and many children are learning under the shade of a tree,” says Chali Chisala Selisho, our Country Director for Zambia.
Chali says many families in Chitiope also depend on raising cattle and goats for their livelihood, which leaves them susceptible to diseases like blinding trachoma, spread by flies. Local access to fresh water will allow residents to wash their hands and face with clean water, helping make fight the spread of trachoma.
“This newly-fixed borehole will help transform this community, thanks to our donors and our community partners.”
Give the Gift of Sight this year to help transform the lives of individuals and communities.
