Big hearted 9 year old girl gives sight to the blind
Stories | August 21, 2023
A big-hearted nine-year-old from the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley, has set herself the goal of restoring sight for 60 children this month. Anura Chand, a grade four student, was inspired to help by her experience growing up in Nepal, which has one of the highest rates of preventable blindness.
Anura was born in Nepal and came to live in Australia when she was five years old. Since then, she’s inspired her school community with her desire to help others. To date, Anura has raised enough for 59 surgeries, so she’s on track to beat her goal!
“When I heard that there were children who couldn’t go to school because they were blind, I wanted to help them,” Anura said.
“I lived in Nepal until I was five, and I know that lots of children there have to stay blind because they don’t have the money to afford cataract surgery. If everyone brought in a gold coin donation, then each class could restore a child’s sight,” she said.
Anura says she wants us all to remember to put others before ourselves. “There are lots of children in the world who don’t have what we have. I don’t want them to be blind when they could see.”
Anura’s fundraising effort is part of CBM’s Miracles campaign, which is running throughout August and raises money for much needed cataract operations in countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Kenya, and the Philippines. Each cataract surgery costs $33, takes just 12 minutes, and changes someone’s life forever.
CBM Campaign Manager Mariska Meldrum, who has witnessed children having cataract surgery in Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam, says that cataracts are one of the world’s leading causes of blindness, with most of those affected living in the world’s poorest countries – where surgery is often out of reach.
You can donate or find out more about having your own fundraiser
https://www.cbm.org.au/stories/big-hearted-9-year-old-girl-gives-sight-to-the-blind
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