By Danielle Hensley, 14, and Brianna Starks, 15
Y-Press, Inc.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL—Before 2008, Janice Guzon never gave a second thought to good eyesight. Thumbing through magazines while doing research in the library that summer, she noticed that few people from Third World countries wore eyeglasses. She just assumed that they all had really good vision, unlike her.

In July, she realized her assumption was wrong. Her family received a letter from her aunt in the Philippines, asking for money.

“She said that she couldn’t work because she couldn’t see, therefore she couldn’t get the money to buy the eyeglasses,” Janice recalled. “It was really just a vicious cycle.”

Janice wondered why her aunt had to ask for help with such a minor expense. But in many countries, eyeglasses can cost as much as a year’s salary. An eye exam can cost as much as a month’s salary.

According to the World Health Organization, about 153 million people in the world suffer from poor eyesight. Of that number, 138 million live in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Janice, 17, a recent graduate of Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Ill., decided to do something to help her aunt and others like her. Soon after receiving her aunt’s letter she founded EYEsee with a goal of “improving the vision of the needy in poorer countries and in so doing alleviate some of the poverties in the world,” according to her mission statement.

To start, Janice gathered friends from her school and they decided to collect eyeglasses. Three weeks later, they had a Web site: EYEseemission.org. Soon after, they had their first partner: Eye Care We Care Foundation Inc., a nonprofit Christian international organization that performs medical mission trips to various needy areas, including the Philippines. Its founder, Dr. Jim Weyrich, offered the group a lensometer to determine the prescriptions of eyeglasses.

Collaboration around the globe

EYEsee spends half of the year collecting glasses and monetary donations. More than 60 volunteers enlist the help of various organizations, such as schools, retirement centers and churches. Youth volunteers work closely with area elementary schools, providing workshops on how to run a campaign along with marketing and communications materials.

“We just kind of gave them our guidance in running their own collection wherever they’d want to,” Janice explained.

EYEsee collect about 7,000 glasses each year. Volunteers then measure the strength of the glasses and send them out to their various partners overseas.

“We collaborate with missions at Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia,” Janice said. “They send us mission reports to let us know where these eyeglasses are going in particular, and then we ask them to send us pictures or videos so we can see where all these eyeglasses have gone and the personal stories that come with these donations,” she said.

Some of the stories have been heart breaking. Janice described one woman who had been legally blind most of her life. “They fitted her with tester eyeglasses, and as soon as she wore them she could see for the very first time, and she wouldn’t let them go. And the doctors tried to explain that these were just tester eyeglasses, and when they finally convinced her to give them up, she started crying and crying, and eventually even the doctors and the staff were crying with her.”

Chris Santucci, 16, is campaign manager of EYEsee. He talks with church leaders and business owners about the group’s mission and helps set up collection booths and answer questions.

“EYEsee has just really opened me up to a whole ’nother world. I mean, sure we’ve all heard about poverty, we’ve all heard about poor health care in some of these countries, but it’s not really that easy for us to put a face on it.”

This fall, Janice will be attending the University of Chicago and plans to continue the program there. Other Saint Viator graduates vow to do the same.

“I’m encouraging them to run their own campaigns, whichever school they go to,” she said. “Our mission is to go nationwide at some point and have chapters throughout the nation.”