Today is Oct 8^th, World Sight Day, and this year, unlike those before it, a little known fact caught my attention: of all the blind people the in the world 2 out of 3 girls and women.

Trust me. I understand that the world is exceptionally cruel to its womenfolk. They tell me that reasons for this substantial disparity are numerous: political, economic, cultural, financial, poverty-driven…But they can also be summarized as easily as saying that girls and women receive only half the access to eye care that men do.

But the crux of the matter is far worse than that: most of these girls and women should not be blind. In fact 80% of these cases of blindness are either entirely preventable, or entirely reversible. We can literally heal the blind and help some 30 million girls and women.

There is the story of Jangyong Lhamo in Tibet, who lost her sight, descending into complete darkness. Her little boy was drowning in the nearby river, screaming for help, and she could not find him in time. She heard his screams, his gasps for the very last breaths, but could not do anything. He drowned in mere seconds. She literally lost her child to blindness.

Lhamo had her eye sight restored. She is no longer blind. Now she can take care of her other children.

And then there is the Nepalese woman, name unknown, who took a treacherous ten day trek through the mountains with her husband and infant son in tow, to reach an eye care camp. She gave birth in complete darkness. After the surgeries, she thanked the doctors for letting her see her child for the very first time.

Or the story of the little Rose Moleil from Tanzania: 3-year-old Rose experienced continuous decline in eye sight. Her father refused to take her to the doctor, because of the costs. He explained to her mother that Rose is not worth the money.

Her anguished mother, Leah, left the house in protest, begging her father to help. The old grandfather heard about an eye camp, ordered to have Rose brought to him, and then took her in for an exam. Today, little Rose can see.

Today is World Sight Day. 30 million women are blind and the world is not blinking in agony.

I have had the rare opportunity to work with Seva Canada for the past few months, and the experience has been enriching, to say the least. I've been managing the gender and blindness awareness campaign, Her Sight, myself a stranger to the subject of blindness. There are a very few, very rare organizations that have such a profound influence on human lives, and I was lucky enough, albeit briefly, to experience belonging to one.

Not only do they fund eye camps, but also organize sustainable eye care facilities, and training for local medical staff. Their efforts in India, for example, have resulted in an estimated 20% reduction of blindness cases across India as a whole.

The programs also target women and girls, acknowledging that they need a little extra attention. But despite their efforts, the statistics are still staggering: 30 million women and girls are blind, and we can make a difference.