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TOMS and charity: water, an organization founded in 2006 (like TOMS!) that’s dedicated to to helping bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, join forces for the first-ever TOMS Eyewear collab! Read More >>
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Profiles in One for One: With restored vision, Bhim returns to work
Name: Bhim Dalabar
Age: 52
Location: West Bengal, India
Giving Partner: Vivekananda Mission Asram Netra Niramay Niketan (VMANNN)
Service Provided: Cataract surgery
As the patriarch and main provider for a family of seven, Bhim Dalabar is an incredibly hard worker. To help provide for his family, both he and his eldest son work as rickshaw pullers. In addition to the rickshaw job, Bhim brings extra income home by milking cows and by selling ice cream in nearby villages on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
About two years ago when Bhim was sorting through coin change after a day’s work, he realized he was having problems with his vision. In time, his blurred vision became so burdensome that Bhim could no longer pull the rickshaw or sell ice cream in the villages; near blindness dramatically impacted the skills he needed to do his jobs. Several times, Bhim fell in the fields with his ice cream vending car, nearly injuring himself: a risk that eventually caused him to stop working. As a result, his family’s income suffered.
When Sight Giving Partner VMANNN held an eye camp – like a satellite eye care center ‐ near his home, the medical staff advised Bhim to visit the Sundarban Social Development Centre for a more thorough examination.
After a 60-kilometer (almost 40-mile) journey that arrived him at the centre and a thorough eye exam, Bhim learned that he’d been suffering from a condition called cataract, the world’s most common cause of blindness, which can cured with a simple 15-minute surgery.
Thanks to the One for One model, a TOMS Eyewear purchase supported his surgery. Bhim is since back to work pulling the rickshaw, selling ice cream and milking the family cows.
For us, and we hope for you, too, Bhim’s story reminds of how the effect of One for One reaches far beyond two people. Often, like for Bhim, it’s the extension of the One for One give to the families of those who receive the sight-saving services or the new shoes TOMS provides that means the most for those involved. Let’s keep the movement going, One for One: www.TOMS.com
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