The Hunt

We are collecting a combination of 1000 pairs of non-prescription reading glasses and sunglasses to take with us to India. So far we have received  help from an organization called New Eyes for the Needy who have donated 400 pairs to the cause. Today, we were able to contact the local Lion's Club and they are providing us with 500 pairs. That makes us 90%  the way there! We just wanted to give a shout-out to charities like these that make such a difference in the lives of those in need!

You might wonder why we are taking so many reading glasses and sunglasses with us to India. There is an eye condition of which no man can evade called presbyopia. No matter who you are, presbyopia will catch up with you one day. Starting at age 40, the lens inside each eye becomes stiff and loses the ability to focus light by thinning and thickening itself. The lens is responsible for helping us read and work up close and when it stiffens, we lose that ability. In connection with presbyopia, cataracts are a part of aging but can sometimes affect children. Cataract surgery involves the removal of the natural lens inside our eyes and a replacement plastic or silicone intraocular lens (IOL) takes the place of the natural lens. Most lenses used in cataract surgery (apart the "premium" IOLs which cost a lot and can correct presbyopia to an extent) will not correct for presbyopia and therein lies the need for reading glasses after cataract surgery -especially of interest in India where we will be working with ophthalmologists to screen and remove cataracts from patients. Cataracts are a part of aging but can sometimes affect children.

It is also important to know that wearing sunglasses with 100% UV protection can also aid in preventing cataracts before they develop.

Watch the video below if you want to see what happens during a cataract surgery. Don't worry, the video is computer animated so you shouldn't get sick! Ha ha!

Tickets!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas, we sure did! Our next step in getting ready for India was getting tickets so we could actually get there! This proved to be an exciting process. Lots of options, huge range in prices and lots different times and dates to keep together. Luckily, once we get to Patna, someone from the  AB Eye Institute, where we are volunteering, will pick us up. But getting to Patna is going to be an adventure on its own! After looking through lots of different airlines and travel sites, we finalized our plans! We will be leaving on Saturday March 20, flying to San Francisco, from which we will catch a flight to Munich Germany. From there we go to New Delhi, and then catch a flight to Patna, arriving on Monday, March 22 at 1:15 local time! Whew! The fun of international travel! We felt better once we realized that we cross the international date line and that's why it is over a 3 day period. Our time frame looks funny on the return trip because we leave Patna at 8:50 pm and arrive home the next day at 2:44 pm! Sounds easier to me! :) It's pretty exciting to begin to see all the pieces falling into place, now we've got to hope all our luggage arrives with us... :) Here's a picture of the Patna Airport, looks a little different than SL International! We can't wait!

A little more about Patna...we looked up the weather for the time of year we will be there and it is going to be HOT! Average temperature for March is between 80-100 F and humid. So I guess it will be getting us out of chilly Utah for the time! No parkas for us.

Ho Ho Ho!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! We are so grateful for family, friends, and our Savior Jesus Christ. This season is filled with an air of giving! We want to thank everyone who has donated to prevent blindness. To date, we have raised money to help 11 patients receive sight restoring surgery that will bless them for the rest of their life.

Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas holiday with you and yours! Don't forget to tell everyone you know about this cause and let's help our fellow men!

Love,
Brayd and Lu

It's Official!

Today we got the wonderful news that Laura also got accepted! She no longer has to be sad at home while Brayden goes to India. Luckily the planets aligned and her application finally was finished and within 30 minutes her acceptance came! That was a huge relief! Now we have to get to the grind with raising funds for the program, raising eyeglasses and getting all of our travel arrangements in place! Whew! The hardest part is spreading the word, we need all the help we can get!

Today we had the fun task of filling out two forms that needed to be sent back in. Sounds easy, right? Wrong! Technology once again tried to keep us from getting this done, but we fought, and won. Take that! Anyways, it ended up being a much longer process than originally planned, but we got to learn a lot about converting files, uploading and way too big pdf files. Fun stuff.

For those of you like us who had no clue that Bihar existed, let alone where it was, it is  the tan state right under Nepal, or seen in red in the picture below it. The capital city, Patma, is where the AB Eye Institute (where we will be volunteering) is located. Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, dating back to before 450 B.C. That is a lot of history!

Spreading the word...

We are so fortunate to both have amazing families. In the past couple days we have shared our plan to volunteer with Unite for Sight and all that it entails with our families. We have been overwhelmed with the amount of excitement and support we have received from them. One of the reasons we set up this blog is to not only document our journey, but to also keep those who are interested updated on our progress, and then while we are in India we can share what we are doing with everyone back home!

Part of agreeing to volunteer with Unite for Sight is fundraising...this was a scary thought for me, I do not like asking people for money, especially in this economy. Something I thought was cool about this, however, is that this money is not going to funding our travel or food costs, in fact, we never see any of the money, through our donation page 100% of the money goes directly to patient care. Unite for Sight covers all procedure and surgery costs for patients who are unable to pay for eyecare, and it all comes through donations. There are no program or administrative costs, so all money given goes directly to those in need. Did you know that a person's blindness can be reversed through cataract surgery for only $50? That was stunning to me, I imagined it would be hundreds if not thousands of dollars. It is incredible to think that such a life-altering procedure could occur from such a small amount of money.

If you are in a position to donate, that is awesome, know that you are making a huge difference in the lives of others. Even a small amount can make a huge difference. If 50 people each donated only one dollar, they could cure a person's blindness! And if you are not in a position to donate, please just spread the word. We are excited to tell others about this organization.

In appreciation for those who are giving to the organization, we invite you to follow this blog to see where your investment is going. We hope that through this blog you will be able to participate with us in seeing what a difference you have made. We will keep you updated on our preparations and then detail our day-to-day experience in India and include lots of pictures.

Thanks to those who have checked out our blog and fundraising page and donated to Unite for Sight, so far 10 people will have their blindness cured. Wow, what a great thing to think about, especially during this Christmas season! We are so grateful for the selfless giving of others, and are excited to be able to report to them what a difference they were able to make in the life of someone they will never meet, but will forever affect.

Update and Laura's side...

Hey it's Laura, you haven't heard from me yet. Last Friday we heard great news....Brayden got accepted!!! Now you may be concerned why only Brayden has been accepted...my application has been taking a little longer than Brayd's due to some technical difficulties (literally everything that could go wrong with the computer did...), but I am on track to have everything set and done tomorrow morning and am hoping to hear similarly good news very soon, which is good since Brayden only has a 5 day window to commit to going, and he doesn't want to go without me! :) So hopefully all will go well and I can follow up with some similarly good news within the next couple days!

A little more background on us in case you don't know, Brayden and I first met back in high school and got married almost two years ago. We love having fun together, and have been talking since we first got married about going somewhere exciting, but between both of our crazy schedules barely had time to get away over the weekend, let alone longer. We had been talking about trying to fit in some volunteering, but wanted it to be something that appealed to both of our interests/careers. (I have my master's in social work and Brayden is an optician and is studying to become an optometrist) One day at work, I got an e-mail from Brayd sending me the link to Unite for Sight. I think he was kind of joking, but thinking it would be cool, but after looking at the website I was hooked and called him up saying I seriously wanted to go. It seemed like a great fit for a combination social worker/optician team.

Anyways, we seriously looked into it and analyzed whether it would be possible (social worker's and students don't make that much) and decided it was worth it. We are now both so excited to go! Unite for Sight sends volunteers to Honduras, Ghana and India. Brayden wondered about Honduras, I thought Ghana, and then we both agreed on India. We watched the video for Bihar India (which conveniently is the video posted on this blog...) and were so impressed by the work the Sinha family does that we knew this was where we wanted to go. I can't believe how hard these people work, it is incredible to me. So we talked to our bosses about taking time off, and got going on the application process. Now Brayden has been accepted and I'm hoping my acceptance will follow shortly and then we can officially start! We are excited!

The ball is rolling!

This week has been a busy one! Brayden has been finishing with fall semester and Laura is busy at work. In the midst of it all, we were both able to fill out the application for Unite for Sight. In order for our applications to be accepted, we must both receive letters of recommendation. Thankfully, we had the help of Laura's supervisors, and the optometrist that Brayden works for as well as his manager. A special thanks to the 4 of them for taking the time to help us get where we want to go!

The Beginning!

We decided to start this blog to document everything that we are doing to prepare for our experience in India with Unite for Sight.

I (Brayden) am a student at the University of Utah and am about to complete my bachelors degree. I am planning on continuing my education in pursuit of a career in optometry. I was searching the web for volunteer opportunites during class at the University of Utah last week, and stumbled upon www.uniteforsight.org. I scanned the page and was captivated by the pictures and the impact to combat blindness that they are having on poverty stricken communities around the world.

When I got home for lunch, I was excited to call Laura and tell her all about it. I jokingly suggested to her that we could try to "plan to volunteer abroad" one day, and to my amazement, SHE WAS SERIOUS ABOUT DOING IT! (I don't go anywhere without my Lu!)

There is a lot of preparation that goes into even applying to become a Global Impact Fellow with Unite for Sight. We have spent several days looking over requirements for eligibility, preparing our essays, contacting our references, and figuring out where all the funding is going to come from.

Here is an update on our progress:
1) Goal list made

Unite for Sight
Dates/Places:
1. 3/20/09 to 4/3/09, SLC to Bihar India (Airport Patna) (PAT)
Goals:

• Raise $3200.00 (must donate on website)

• Collect 1000 pairs of reading glasses or sunglasses

2) Application process almost finished

Wish us luck!