We started sponsoring Chandan when he was just a small boy whose Father had TB and whose Mother had left the family. At that time, a Nepali friend told me about this poor family from her home village. She told me that Chandan was very bright but had been forced to leave school because his Father could not work. Could Shanti send Chandan to school? Yes, we could.

I also learned that he had had an accident when fishing and gotten a fish hook in his left eye.The first thing we did was take him to Tilganga Eye Hospital to see if the eye could be saved. It could not.

Over the years Chandan has grown up. His is a good student, helpful and friendly and always with a bright smile. Then he began to feel increasingly shy and self conscious as he entered his late teens.

This September Chandan finally got a new prosthetic eye! He had a number of checkups with doctors at Tilganga (Tejendra accompanied him) and a surgery to clear the eye socket and one to give him the new eye. He is so thrilled!  He sent me the above photo (right) on facebook and proudly asked me what I thought of his “new looks”. He has a renewed sense of confidence and we are so happy to have been part of his transformation.