Seeing life anew

Keith Tauro,
A Dubai-based volunteer for Unite for Sight, an international non-profit organisation

Tackling the unexpected

Prescription glasses and sunglasses were also distributed as required.

There was a high rate of eye allergy among kids due to the dusty environment up there and the sunglasses proved to be very popular.

In all, we gave away close to 250 spectacles and sunglasses and the rest have been kept at the hospital to be used in subsequent camps.

It was the first time that glasses have been distributed in camps like this and they found it to be a very useful addition to the programme.

Then something unexpected happened. The Sutlej river was in full spate, and the floodwaters blocked our roads, hampering normal transport services.

I had to trek about 20 kms before I found transport to reach me back to Shimla. I started at 6 am and reached Shimla at 9.30 in the night.

A rewarding experience

At the time, the experience was tiring, but mentally and spiritually, I feel I have grown stronger after having undergone it.

I feel more determined to work towards worthy causes. Social work has always interested me because I believe it is important to contribute your bit to a world that has given you so much.

I feel strongly about empowering people, social uplift and environmental sustainability.

I believe even the smallest effort on part of every individual can contribute greatly towards shaping a better world.

I was born and brought up in Abu Dhabi ...

... and went to India for university studies in 1997. After graduating in electronics engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, I worked in Bangalore for two years.
In 2003, I got an opportunity to work in Dubai with Emirates airlines (in its Revenue Optimisation department) and so returned to the UAE.

My first brush with social work was with the United National Youth Campaign (UNYC), a small but highly committed team that works out of Bangalore and Pune in India.

It's the brainchild of group of people from different colleges in Bangalore whose underlying desire is to get Indian youth to make a difference by actively participating in the socio-political progress of their country.

The UNYC was started in 2003 and I support its philosophy. Since leaving India, I continue to support them as a technical adviser.

To make the most of my free time after office hours, I started interacting with the International Young Professionals Foundation (IYPF).

The IYPF is a non-profit public organisation that works in the fields of human rights, poverty eradication, and environment. I felt it was an apt place for me because it utilises and promotes the resources, skills and knowledge that young professionals can bring to this arena in order to create a better world for current and future generations.

Last December, the IYPF had a conference in Brisbane that focused on Sustainable Livelihoods so I applied to participate in it and was invited to conduct a thematic workshop on "Information Technology and Its Context in Rural Development".

It was quite an experience, especially in terms of the interaction and awareness, due to meeting so many young people from many parts of the world and from many walks of life,
each making a contribution in his or her own way.

I came to learn about Unite for Sight from one of their newsletters. It's an excellent resource and anyone can subscribe to it.

About Unite For Sight

Unite For Sight is a non-profit organisation that empowers communities worldwide to improve eye health.

More than 4,000 volunteers work in chapters established at universities, schools, corporations and communities throughout the world.

A large part of our work involves sending volunteer teams to provide eyecare and eye education to medically underprivileged communities in over 25 countries.

The organisation is based in the United States. It was founded in September 2000 by Jennifer Staple while she was an undergraduate at Yale University.

Over the years, Unite For Sight has grown from providing eye health support in the local community to supporting eye health camps across the developing world.

I feel that organisations like the UNYC, IYPF and Unite For Sight are a stirring testimony
to the potential of today's youth.

What really struck me about UFS ...

... is its sincerity. Of what it [Unite For Sight] is able to achieve and the enormity of its impact. The beauty of Unite For Sight's objective lies in its simplicity – a volunteer collects used eye wear for underprivileged communities in the developing world.

Usually, used eyeglasses are just discarded or stored away in drawers. But Unite For Sight uses the very same glasses to bring light to the lives of many.

My special interest about this programme is that people, particularly children, who suffer from poor eyesight, now get the help that was once out of their reach.

These children can then perform better in everything they do and experience the joys that good eyesight brings. Their quality of life improves and their dependence on others i