Swarna, 7, shows her mother a painting that she did in school. Swarna's sponsorship through World Vision has proven valuable for her entire family — her mother and aunt are both blind, but they listen carefully as Swarna reads to them what she learned in school.
Photo © 2007 Hasanthi Jayamaha/World Vision

"Amma, see the picture I painted," Swarna says, next guiding her mother's finger across a drawing she made in class.

Smiling, her mother recognizes the shape and says, "It's a swan."

Sight for the blind

"Read to me what you have written in class today," Swarna's mother asks, eager to learn what Swarna has learned.

Swarna lives in Sri Lanka with her mother, her grandmother, and her aunt. Both her mother and aunt are blind. Swarna is their eyes, helping them around the house and guiding them to the well close by for their baths.

Swarna is also their teacher. Their favorite time of day is listening to Swarna read what she learned in school.

"I am not so literate, and it thrills me to hear what she is learning. We are learning with her," says her mother, who was not able to get an education like Swarna when she was young.

'Everything she needs'

A World Vision donor has sponsored Swarna since 2003. The sponsor has connected with Swarna by sending cards and photographs of her family. Swarna especially likes photos of her sponsor's little daughter. "She is very small and very pretty," she says.

Thanks to her sponsor, Swarna is able to receive an education that would otherwise be impossible.

"I would have never been able to send her to school without the support of World Vision," says her mother. "She receives all the books and pencils and everything she needs to continue her studies."

Through Swarna's studies, her entire family is learning and gaining insight, their vision growing every day.

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