Yesterday I saw this amazing photograph in The Globe and Mail of a poor Mexican woman farmer, blind from cataracts. If this woman had access to a 15-minute cataract surgery costing about $50, she could see again. This cost is based on the 7 countries where Seva Canada works to prevent blindness and restore sight.

Andrea Islas Garcia, farmer, blind from cataracts, Beunavista 1998. Copyright Marco A. Cruz

This photograph was taken by Mexican photographer, Marco Antonio Cruz, and is one of a series he has taken of blind people. Marco A. Cruz's work is on the short list for the Grange Prize, a $50,000 award given by the Art Gallery of Ontario, with Aeroplan as a partner. Of the 4 finalists, the winner will be chosen through online voting on the website. Click here to see this stunning series. There are 45 million blind people in the world, but it doesn't have to be this way. Eighty per cent of this blindness is either preventable or treatable. In a word of seemingly unsolvable problems, there is a quick fix and cataract surgery is it. Looking at these images, I feel intensely grateful for my own eyesight and for my work at Seva Canada helping the blind see again.