Many people around the world leave their home country for a better education and better job in another country. A woman from Sri Lanka named Ashanthi Mathai has a story like that.
Ms. Mathai came to the United States from Sri Lanka in the early 1990s. She had a clear idea of what she wanted -- a good education. Ms. Mathai went to Princeton University in New Jersey and got a degree in chemical engineering. She continued her education at Stanford Business School in California. Then, she began her career in the health care industry.
Now, Ms. Mathai has another goal -- helping Sri Lanka.
Four years ago, Mathai was visiting Sri Lanka for her job. During the trip, someone asked her if she would be willing to collect used eye glasses in the United States. The donated glasses were to be used for a Sri Lankan program on preventing blindness. She learned there was a great need in Sri Lanka. She says many people in the country have vision problems that go untreated because of the high cost of eye care services.
Eye glasses can cost between 50 and 100 U.S. dollars. So, they are out-of-reach to most of the population. But instead of recycling used glasses, Ms. Mathai took a different approach.
Mathai founded So Others May See or SOMS. The non-profit company helps people who need eye care in Sri Lanka. To date, SOMS has helped about 24,000 adults with eye exams and new eye glasses.
Mathai says there is still more that needs to be done. She says she wants her non-profit, SOMS, to treat more complex cases and to prevent vision problems. She says she is also planning to expand the service to another part of the population. She says she wants to include people who may not be very poor but who still cannot afford to buy glasses.
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