Light up a life this Christmas!

TORONTO , Nov. 10 /CNW/ - Don't just light the tree-light up a life this Christmas! Restoring sight to a blind person in the developing world brings light and so much more into their lives.

Restoring someone's eyesight means that a child can learn to read and get an education, an adult can work to support his or her family, or a young girl can return to school instead of staying home to care for a blind family member.

Giving the gift of sight through Operation Eyesight is easy and a truly meaningful way to tell family, friends, teachers and business associates that you are thinking of them. Each colourful gift card is tax deductible and is personalized with the name of the gift recipient and the purchaser-and they can be mailed directly to the recipient.

Choose from a wide range of life-changing gifts that bring light and hope to some of the world's poorest people and find a gift that's just right for everyone on your list. For example:

    
    -   To recognize a wonderful sister, mother, aunt or girlfriend, buy
        micro-skills training for a woman in India
    -   For your hard-to-buy-for uncle with a great sense of humour, how
        about a latrine?
    -   For your child or grandchild, why not purchase eyeglasses so poor
        children can learn to read and attend school
    -   For the business associate who has everything, donate a cataract kit
        so a surgeon can restore the sight of 25 people.
    

Other gift options help Operation Eyesight bring clean water and sanitation to African villages or health care, education and agricultural training to remote tribal villages in India . These community development programs prevent unnecessary blindness and bring lasting improvements to whole communities.

Blindness is all too common in poorer countries where people lack access to clean water, proper sanitation and basic medical care. In fact, someone in the world goes blind every five seconds and a child goes blind every minute. Ninety per cent of those people live in the developing world, where life is already a challenge.

The good news is that more than 75 per cent of blindness is treatable or preventable and you can help by purchasing Operation Eyesight gift cards online at www.operationeyesight.ca or by calling toll free 1-800-585-8265.

Operation Eyesight is a Canadian international development organization dedicated to preventing and treating blindness throughout the world for more than 40 years-primarily in south Asia and Africa . We help local medical professionals provide comprehensive, sustainable eye care and community development for the people of the world who can least afford it. Since 1963, Operation Eyesight has helped restore sight to more than two million people and provided blindness prevention services to nearly 33 million others. For more information, visit www.operationeyesight.ca.

For further information: Lindsay O'Connor, Head of International Media, [email protected], Toll Free: 1-800-585-8265, Office: [phone], Cell: [phone]