Healing Sofia’s Eyes

Sofia, three years old, was born with a crossed eye. She lives with her mom and two sisters in a remote village on the top of a mountain in Guatemala. Her crossed eyes made it difficult for Sofia to navigate around the house and yard. “I noticed when she started walking that she turned her head to the side,” her mother Adelina told us. “She did not look straight ahead.”
 
When a family member saw Sofia’s eye, she told Adelina that it could be repaired with an operation. Adelina had not been able to afford to take her daughter to a doctor to check her condition. One day, at a free medical clinic, Adelina found out how much the surgery would cost. “They told me that it depends on what kind of surgery it would be.They said the cost was up to $1500 dollars!” 

To save for the operation, Adelina moved far from home to work on a banana farm in another part of Guatemala. Her mom took care of Sofia. “I always thought I could earn enough to pay for surgery. But it was not as easy as I hoped,” declared Adelina, the emotion now pouring out. “There are times that I get emotional. It’s hard not to have support because Sophia’s father abandoned us.”   

So Operation Blessing arranged for Sofia to travel to the city to see an ophthalmologist. We then set up a free operation to repair the weakened muscles in Sofia’s eye.

Adelina: "She no longer turns her head to the side to see. My daughter says: ‘Mommy now I can see well and my eyes don't hurt.’ I want to thank you to Operation Blessing and all the people who helped my daughter get free surgery."