Sisters, brother outfit village children with glasses

Sisters, brother outfit village children with glasses

(Sydney Willis)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A trio of siblings who headed an effort to establish a vision clinic in India last summer are raising more money to continue the clinic’s effort.

Last July, Sydney Willis, 20, and Chambrey Willis, 24, were working with an 8-year-old girl in one of the lower-scoring second grade classes at a rural school there. The sisters watched the girl struggle through her studies, holding the book just an inch from her face, they thought she may be struggling because she could not see properly.

“We were realizing that a lot of them were there because they couldn’t see the board and they couldn’t see what they were doing. We also noticed that none of the children had glasses,” Sydney Willis, an anthropology student at the University of Utah, said. “From that we decided that we should try and start a clinic so that the children who needed glasses could get them for free. We were in a village who couldn’t afford it.”

They approached the non-profit they were working with, asking if they could work together to set up a vision clinic and provide glasses for children with vision problems.

“I’ve had glasses since I was in second grade. They’re such a big part of my education. I can’t imagine what my education would have been like if I couldn’t see,” Sydney Willis said.

Along with their brother, Justice Willis, and Sevalaya, a non-profit in India, they established Resilient Hearts. They were able to sell T-shirts designed by a friend, Rhena Ichi, and threw a hunger banquet for a total of about $300. They then raised another $200 while they were in India.

“We wanted to be able to sustain them to get glasses for people who needed them throughout this year while we were away from India. We wanted to raise enough money so that they could continue to buy glasses through this until we were able to come back and expand it,” Sydney Willis said.

Working with an Indian eyeglasses manufacturer, they were able to arrange vision checkups with a local optometrist and about 300 pairs of glasses for children in an orphanage that they worked with and another 50 to the workers and the caretakers of the orphanages. An additional 25 pairs of glasses went to children in the school that inspired the project who were badly in need of vision correction.

“You have to focus on the basic things before they can start focusing on other needs in their lives. If those needs aren’t met, you can’t do other things,” Sydney Willis said.

The glasses cost about $10 a pair, and Resilient Hearts is looking to pay an optometrist to regularly hold clinics at schools throughout the area and outfit children with glasses.

To continue their efforts Resilient Hearts will be holding a fundraiser concert Saturday, March 22. Combined with other efforts, the siblings hope to raise $10,000 to help pay for glasses and an optometrist’s visits to schools.

“It’s for the kids. I love all the kids we’re going back to, especially at the orphanage. I especially like being able to see the difference. It feels productive. It’s what I want to do with my life,” Chambrey Willis said.

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