With help from the Indian Red Cross deputy secretary general, Dr Gandhimathi, we were able to identify this village. Of the 550 men, women and children who underwent the tests, Alpesh detected that 410 people required eyeglasses. There were many, like 12 year old Priya, whose spectacles were smashed under the rubble when her house collapsed. It was hard to read my school books because my head would ache without eyeglasses. I can barely see without eyeglasses, and I have felt dizzy and have been getting constant headaches.
People line up patiently, waiting to receive their new spectacles.
A relief team comprised of members of the Indian and the American Red Cross were in Bharpar to carry out the distribution. They were putting them on and taking them off several times, with huge smiles on their faces. People from Bharpar lined up outside the village school building in the morning and one by one came out with new spectacles perched on their noses. Within a few hours the job was completed. Alpesh is providing the villagers with eye glasses with support of the Gujarat state branch of the Red Cross.