DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

As interns for the Social Entrepreneurship Corps, we seek to create access to beneficial products in rural communities. Rather than venturing into villages acting as privileged students benevolently doling out free goodies, we work by empowering local women (asesoras) to educate their communities by selling these products, thus create self-sustaining businesses. They earn income to support their families while simultaneously helping their fellow citizens. Asesoras host “campaigns” every weekend in new communities where the asesora brings in our products and seeks to educate the local population about the benefits of clean water, energy efficient lighting, vegetables in their diet, or vision protection by means of selling products in their respective fields: water purifiers, lightbulbs, seed packets, and eye glasses. One of our primary responsibilities as interns is to support the asesoras during campaigns by helping sell products, giving eye exams, and publicizing the event.

Photo By Dan Kornblau

My first campaign was in Xexuxcup, a tiny village in the Ixhil highlands with dirt roads, an abundance of wooden huts, and no running electricity. Mirroring the ubiquitous presence of hills and valleys in the area, performing free eye exams that day jerked me along the highs and lows of emotional satisfaction followed by  frustrating helplessness. One of the elderly women I examined softly spoke to me in broken Spanish of her blurry vision at close distances. Her hands were graceful but rough and deeply indented from weaving. She explained how her farsightedness greatly inhibited the dexterity of her weaving, an essential part of her personal identity and Mayan heritage.

Due to village's lack of access to eyecare her condition, which is normally remedied easily, unnecessarily rendered her unable to provide for herself. After examining her, I knew that a simple pair of reading glasses would ameliorate her otherwise disabling condition.  As I placed the correct prescription on her head, I immediately saw a mixture of joy and relief wash across her face when she realized that she was not in fact going blind. I felt elated and empowered knowing the happiness on her face was a direct consequence of my diagnosis. I informed her that the cost was 40 Q (6.25 US), a nominal amount, I thought, for most people in America.

Satisfaction ebbed from my face as soon as I saw her smile turn into resigned disheartenment. In that instant, I realized she did not have enough money to buy them. What good was my diagnosis or the lenses if she could not afford them?  It was like a tease of opening the door of access only to tormentingly shut it in her face. My hands were tied because handing out free glasses is not in the interest of cultivating sustainable entrepreneurship, and thus not an option. I felt ethically conflicted and awash with guilt for holding the solution literally in my hands while watching her slowly disappear along the dusty road. Wasn't her improved vision worth more than the mere $6.25 cost of the glasses? On the other hand, if I gave them to her for free, wouldn't I be sacrificing long term sustainability?  In a matter of twenty minutes, I realized that development work is not all roses.