Reading Glasses Reach Refugees Despite Carjacking Attempt

PRLog (Press Release) - Jul 07, 2009 -
Darfur refugees in Bredjing Refugee Camp, eastern Chad received 500 pairs of reading glasses from Reston, VA-based nonprofit Book Wish Foundation (http://www.bookwish.org).  Another 500 pairs will be distributed to each of the Treguine and Gaga Refugee Camps, and 250 pairs to surrounding Chadian villages, in support of literacy and education programs run by Book Wish's UK charitable partner CORD (http://www.cord.org.uk).  CORD drivers transporting the glasses narrowly escaped a shooting, yesterday, during an attempted carjacking en route from Hadjer Hadid to Abeche, Chad.

The glasses were donated by U.S. and U.K. optical companies Sight Station, Smart Eyes, Hilco, Peepers Reading Glasses, For Eyes Optical, Astucci, Davis Vision, ClearVision Optical, and Equation, LLC; by the Northern Virginia Optometric Society, the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center of Northern Virginia, and Partners in Restoring Vision and Improving Lives; and by individuals.  Protective cases, repair kits, and multilingual vision test cards were included.  Air France discounted freight to Chad's capital N'Djamena, from where the glasses embarked on a nearly 500-mile journey to the refugee camp near the eastern border with Sudan.

Education Program Manager Anne Goddard of CORD described the scene that unfolded when the glasses arrived:

"It was an amazing atmosphere.  Once people realized the difference the glasses made to their sight, they were thrilled.  For many in our literacy program, this will transform their ability to progress -- it has given everyone involved a real and lasting boost."

Violence in the area is increasing and drivers picking up the glasses came under attack.  Aid vehicles are frequently targeted, but this encounter was unusually dangerous, with shots fired at point blank range.  Nobody was injured, but the incident underscores the risk that aid workers face.

Vision testing is now underway for the refugees, many of them elderly, who are experiencing glasses for the first time.  Thousands of Darfuris seeking a "road to freedom" are enrolled in literacy or English classes in the three refugee camps, which have a total population of about 70,000.  Book Wish Foundation has also supplied English textbooks, multilingual dictionaries, and solar lighting equipment to support the refugees' education.

"Reading glasses," said Book Wish Foundation President Logan Kleinwaks, "are even more of a necessity for the Darfuris than for us in the developed world.  Those of us who need glasses are probably already literate, but they cannot become literate without the glasses."