First Place
Brent Stirton
Getty Images
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"First Sight"
WEST BENGAL, INDIA 21 OCTOBER 2013: Blind girls Sonia, 12, and Anita Singh, 5, accompany their parents during a rainstorm while they work in the fields of their rural Indian village. Both sisters are born into poverty with congenital cataract blindness. They must accompany their parents everywhere as they cannot be left alone without risk. The surgery to cure this is simple and takes 15 minutes but because of the level of poverty in this family they have been unable to pursue the necessary operation. India has more than 12 million blind, the majority of which suffer from cataract blindness. Poverty is the main reason these millions of people are trapped in this condition. Donor funding has recently enabled both sisters to finally go for this operation. This essay is an attempt to tell the story of their lives before surgery, during the operation to regain their sight and after as they begin to discover light.
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