My name is Tom, and I’m asking for your help to change the life of someone very special: Rocelia Ageuro, a 79-year-old grandmother in the Dominican Republic who has been blind from cataracts for more than three years.

I have known Rocelia for over 15 years through the charity work I’ve done in the Dominican Republic, helping build homes for families like hers. She has always been kind, humble, grateful, and full of quiet strength. Seeing her now — nearly completely blind — is heartbreaking, especially knowing that this is something we can still fix.

Despite her age, Rocelia is incredibly healthy. She lives in a tiny 300-square-foot home with eight family members — her daughter, granddaughters, and great-grandchildren. They are among the poorest families in the area, surviving day-to-day with almost nothing.

For years, her family believed she was losing her sight because of “curtains closing over her eyes.” They never knew her blindness was caused by cataracts, and they had no idea that surgery was even an option.

Her Current Vision

When my partner Kathy and I examined her eyes, we immediately suspected cataracts — and we were right. A specialist in Santiago confirmed that:

She has 3% vision in her left eye — just faint shadows

She has 1% vision in her right eye

She is nearing the point where the blindness will become permanent

There is still time, but the doctor was clear:

Within a year, it will be too late to restore her sight.

She has never seen two of her great-grandchildren.

What We’ve Done So Far

Kathy and I drove her to Santiago and paid out of pocket for her appointment, examinations, and diagnostic imaging. The clinic confirmed that surgery can restore her vision — but her family cannot afford even a fraction of the cost.

We are fully committed to helping her. But we can’t cover everything alone.

What Your Donation Will Help Cover

Cataract surgery (one or both eyes)

Medications

Post-operative follow-ups

Transportation to and from the clinic

Even a small donation brings us closer to giving this grandmother her sight back.

A Chance to See Again

This isn’t just a surgery.

It is a chance for Rocelia to finally see the faces of her family again.

To see the home she lives in.

To see the great-grandchildren she has only held, never seen.

Your kindness can literally change — and restore — her life.

Thank you for reading her story, and thank you for any help you can give.

— Tom & Kathy