Hope in Sight

Book excerpt: Demonstrating compassion, courage, and generosity in the face of adversity, this autobiography tells the story of a remarkable Burmese American immigrant, venerated eye surgeon, and mother to 21 sponsored and natural-born children who undertook a remarkable quest to restore hope and dignity to sight-deprived and disadvantaged people all over the world. At the age of seven, Aisha Simjee contracted and recovered from trachomaOCothe world's leading cause of preventable blindnessOCowhich fueled her desire to become an eye doctor. While a revolution rocked her homeland and in spite of the consternation of her traditional Muslim family, she triumphed as the first woman in her tribe of Indian heritage to graduate from high school, going on to attend college and medical school and eventually fleeing the country for America. She is now a board-certified ophthalmologist with a busy medical practice in Southern California and has traveled solo and with medical humanitarian volunteer agencies, performing corneal transplants and cataract surgeries throughout the world, including Colombia, Myanmar, Egypt, Cambodia, Haiti, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, as well as caring for the sight-deprived poor in her own backyard. Her story not only brings focus to global health challenges but also serves as encouragement to all of us to live more productive and meaningful lives.