July 15, 2025, Hotan City, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region - With the distribution and receipt of the last pair of reading glasses, the week-long "Healthy Dreams · Vision Care" came to a successful conclusion in Hotan City. This event was jointly organized by Beijing United Charity Foundation, Gujiangbagh Street, Narbagh Street, and Jiya Township of Hotan City, with strong support from the Beijing Aid to Xinjiang Hotan City Work Team. It provided professional vision examination services to 1,326 local elderly people, and donated free reading glasses to 1,143 of them who had presbyopia, with a glasses fitting rate of 86%, winning high praise from the local government and residents.
Work with local communities and provide warmth to cover the three streets
Since the project was launched on July 9, it has successively entered Gujiangbagh Street, Narbagh Street, and Jiya Township in Hotan City, covering 58 communities and villages. At the event site, the busy figures of bilingual volunteers wearing green vests and street cadres have become a welcome sight. From information registration, vision examination, to reading glasses trial and distribution, every link is orderly. Gulnur, a Uyghur elderly person from Jiya Township, said excitedly after wearing the newly fitted reading glasses, "I used to see things blurry, but now I can even see the small print on the newspaper clearly. Thank you!"
Scientifically rigorous, attentive service
To ensure service quality, the project team established strict vision screening standards: only those elderly individuals with a single-eye uncorrected visual acuity of 4.5 or below are eligible to try on reading glasses. Elderly people who do not require glasses on the day are gifted small tokens. Professional optometry equipment was also equipped at the event site, and optometrists hired by the Foundation conducted individual optometry for the elderly, solely to obtain more accurate presbyopic degrees. "For some elderly people who are wearing reading glasses for the first time, we repeatedly try them on until they no longer feel dizzy and can see the near vision chart at 4.6 or above," explained project officer Liang Jingjing. In the event photos, the elderly people are all smiling, some giving a thumbs-up, and others reading the brochure attentively. The warm scene is deeply moving.
Collaboration among multiple parties facilitates the efficient implementation of projects
The successful implementation of this project is inseparable from the support from multiple parties. As early as April, the Foundation reached a cooperation intention with the Beijing work team assisting Xinjiang's Hotan City, and jointly completed preliminary investigation and training with local cadres. During the project execution, Zhang Qiujie, a cadre from Gujiangbagh Street, and Du Xin, a cadre from Narbagh Street, participated throughout the process to ensure the smooth implementation of the activities.
The story behind the numbers
1,326 examinations: equivalent to covering vision examination fees for each elderly person who attended, across three streets/townships in Hotan City;
1,143 pairs of reading glasses: equivalent to enabling 452 elderly people in Jiya Township to relearn needlework and threading, and allowing 691 seniors in Gujiangbagh Street and Narbagh Street to regain the joy of reading books and newspapers;
86% glasses prescription rate: out of every 10 examinees, 8 return home with clear vision;
58 community villages: a map of community benefit drawn by volunteers' feet;
Feng Qing, the head of the optometry project at Beijing United Charity Foundation, said, "In the future, we will continue to pay attention to the eye health needs of the elderly in border ethnic areas, correct their ametropia, use scientific and efficient methods to detect eye diseases in the elderly earlier, mobilize and assist them in treatment. Let more 'health dreams' come true." Although the event has ended, this clarity and warmth will remain in the lives of the elderly in Hotan for a long time.
