EDINBURG — Five-year-old Roberto Cortez was stressed Friday morning when he realized he couldn’t fit something into his backpack. The Mission youngster with thick-framed eyeglasses looked up at his mom for help, with an expression that would melt any mother’s heart.
What he couldn’t fit inside his backpack wasn’t a toy, but is more important to this child’s life than you might think.
Roberto and his mom, along with nearly two dozen other families, received quite a gift from a nonprofit organization, Sight Savers America, in the form of devices that help improve vision for people who have difficulty seeing.
Sight Savers America provided these items at the Region One Education Service Center in Edinburg during an event early that day.
Lourdes Rivas, Roberto’s mom, explained that she was so grateful to receive visual aids such as a video magnifier, also known as closed-circuit televisions (CCTV), that will allow Roberto to see more clearly.
“I’m very satisfied because these (devices) are going to help him so much in school to look at his homework at school and at home,” Rivas, 33, said.
She explained that Roberto often has to place items close to his face in order to see them properly.
“It is very difficult for him to see things from a distance. He struggles a lot recognizing letters and colors because he can’t see very well with his vision, and now with these devices it will help him so much in school and with his daily activities,” Rivas said.
It is that sense of independence that Dr. Dawn DeCarlo, chief executive officer of Sight Savers America, wants to provide for each person helped by the organization.
On Friday the organization also gifted visual devices that included a portable magnifier and portable telescope, in addition to the CCTV, to 14 children and seven adults who are considered severely visually impaired.
“These devices that they’re getting today are devices that can magnify things up 118 times,” DeCarlo said Friday. “These devices are just giving them a lot of independence and also giving them the ability to not just do things that are academic but everyday life skills that we all take for granted.”
The CCTV are high definition cameras and monitors that can enlarge items, enhance contrast, adjust brightness and change the way text appears.
The devices can also be used to view things from up close and at a distance, and even like a mirror.
DeCarlo explained that their goal is to make things easier for both the child and their families outside of school.
While schools often provide much of what’s needed in a classroom, “these devices can’t go home,” she added.
“So what Sight Savers does is bridge that gap and we give the same access to vision information at home that they have at school,” DeCarlo said.
She explained that the organization provides each child with devices that are theirs to keep and stay in contact with the families until the child turns 19. This is to assist them with the machines as well as replace them if necessary.
“Once they graduate from high school, the department of rehabilitation services … will pick up and help that child through college and into the workforce,” DeCarlo said.
Somewhere around $30,000 funded the devices for these 14 children on Friday, children who would have otherwise not have the means to acquire them.
That money was made available thanks to the Valley Baptist Foundation, Brownsville Community Foundation and the Tijerina Foundation.
“It’s life changing because every day that child has what they need to be able to see at home is another day he is prepared to succeed,” DeCarlo said with a soft smile.
Gloria Narvaez, 52, attended the event with her 18-year-old daughter, Martha Elena Narvaez, who was recently diagnosed with optic neuropathy.
The Brownsville resident gleamed as she watched her daughter learn to use a Ruby 10, a portable magnifier.
“I’m very grateful to God, it’s a huge blessing because my daughter just started losing her sight in January,” Narvaez said. “Seeing everything that this device can do for her is just huge. Everything that this does for her sight is amazing, so I’m thrilled.”
She teared up as she spoke about the challenges her daughter has faced.
Narvaez explained that her daughter was born at five-and-a-half months into her pregnancy, which caused Martha to have learning disabilities and is now facing the loss of her eyesight.
She recalled taking her to various clinics in San Antonio and Corpus Christi until eventually being referred to a physician in Austin who diagnosed Martha with optic neuropathy.
“She has pain in her eyes 24 hours a day, she has itchiness in her eyes all the time … she sees blurry, she has lost balance,” Narvaez said, adding that her daughter has fallen at home due to her blurred vision.
Narvaez continued to become emotional as she was overwhelmed while sharing her daughter’s story.
“She surprises me sometimes,” Narvaez said with a shaky voice and as tears streamed down her face. “Despite her disabilities she doesn’t stop. She’s something else; she still laughs.”
For Narvaez, her goal is for her daughter to still have a sense of normalcy and to be independent.
“I know she is going to be OK,” Narvaez said, adding that she is grateful Martha has resources available at school as well as people she can lean on to help her.
David Ceballos, 10, who is legally blind due to limited vision, was among the happy attendees at Friday’s event. He observed the environment around him by looking through a special telescope that helped him see better.
“He cannot see farther than a couple of feet so at school he has a hard time,” David’s mother, Cesia Vega, 35, said.
She said David is also learning braille while the Sharyland-area family continues to navigate through life, now with more help.
“It’s a real blessing to our family because this is some equipment that is very expensive and it would be almost impossible for us to purchase it for him,” Vega said with a trembling voice. “It’s going to be beneficial for his life in school and outside of school.”
