Fundraises to assist blind children in Afghanistan

The students at the Kabul Blind School in Afghanistan are so appreciative of the help from Canadians and greeted Eric Rajah of A Better World with a flower.

More Photos

LACOMBE – The Lacombe Rotary Club didn’t have to look far when searching for an international project to support for their annual international fundraiser dinner. They found one in their own backyard in the form of Lacombe-based charity A Better World (ABW).

“We wanted to globally find something worthwhile and that meant a little more, so we are working with A Better World,” said Ivor Bernatsky, Lacombe Rotary vice-president. “It’s someone we know and we have that connection with internationally and locally.”

ABW started various projects at the Kabul Blind School in Afghanistan for 130 children of all ages who have lost or decreased eyesight from stepping on landmines. ABW arranged to have the children tested for possible candidacy for eye surgery to improve their vision. In addition, ABW is supplying the students with Braille books, white walking canes, musical instruments and specialized teachers for the blind.

Children in Afghanistan are often killed or maimed by landmines. The ones who survive struggle as they are excluded from regular schools and have little or no hope of marrying or obtaining jobs when they grow up. The few rehabilitation clinics in Afghanistan are usually too far away for the children to access.

“Thousands of children have been hurt or killed by landmines,” Eric Rajah, Lacombe businessman and co-founder of ABW said Friday at the Lacombe Rotary’s luncheon.

“It would take 20 years to clear all the landmines in Afghanistan. The children can’t play. That’s what keeps me going back to Afghanistan.”

This year Lacombe Rotary will hold its annual international dinner on Sept. 26 at the Lacombe Memorial Centre but are holding it in cooperation with the Lacombe Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Columbus will keep half of the money raised, which will go towards Everybody’s Playground in Lacombe, and the Rotary’s half will go towards the Kabul Blind School project supported by ABW for the past five years.

ABW started in 1990 in Lacombe with a focus on small international projects. Today it now has projects in about 14 countries and has numerous unpaid volunteers.

“No one else puts in the efforts that Eric does,” Rotary member Dutch Vernon told Rotarians after Rajah’s speech. “His lifestyle moves me.”

-editor@lacombelgobe.com
http://www.lacombeglobe.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1704891