Sixty-year-old Anwara Begum lives alone in Dhaka, Bangladesh, having been deserted by her husband many years ago because the couple could not have a child. She works as a maid and a hawker to support herself. When cataracts began robbing Anwara of her sight, ORBIS and Sajida Foundation which works with under-privileged Bangladeshi women, provided her with surgery and a business loan. Anwara says, “Nothing is more important than regaining my sight! Without your help, I would probably still be begging on the streets. But now I can see hope!”

ORBIS believes that sight is everybody’s right. To raise awareness of the plight facing preventably blind women in the third world who have little hope of treatment, the World Health Organization has made “Gender and Eye Health” the theme for this year’s World Sight Day on October 8th 2009. To support this deserving cause, ORBIS is holding its sixth annual Pin Campaign. Please help us to ensure that women like Anwara can enjoy a fully sighted future by wearing an ORBIS Pin and helping us light up lives this October!