Written by Pitao Lin
Translated by H.B. Qin
Edited by Ariel Tsai
Looking out from Tzu Chi USA Las Vegas Service Center’s office on a sunny day, one would never guess Las Vegas temperatures soared to a scorching 41°C (106°F). Sweating profusely, volunteers radiated love and care as they diligently performed their duties in providing vision care services to residents in the Hispanic community who needed eyeglasses.
August 9, 2025, saw the tenth free vision clinic that the Las Vegas Service Center hosted for low-income residents of the Hispanic community. Hispanic residents who came for treatment suffered greatly from blurred vision. However, constrained by financial hardship, they could not afford vision screenings or eyeglasses. They silently endured a world of hazy uncertainty. That day, they finally gained the clarity to see the world clearly before them.
Master Cheng Yen said that “The Bodhisattva path is about rescuing all beings from suffering when seeing them suffer. If the beings are trapped in suffering, we should step in to comfort them, offering love and care. This is how we learn to be Bodhisattvas.” The Las Vegas volunteer team collaborated with optometrists to provide vision screenings, color blindness testing, and on-site eyeglasses fitting services for 25 Hispanic residents.
A Pair of Glasses Transforms a Child's Life
People’s general impression of Las Vegas is that it’s the glittering Sin City, filled with affluent neighborhoods. How could anyone not afford a pair of eyeglasses? Little do people know that disadvantaged groups, those with low or no income, insurance, or even legal residency status, are everywhere. Many people who need eyeglasses simply cannot afford medical care. When their children have vision conditions, there is very little that they can do except helplessly see the problems worsen.
What Tzu Chi’s free vision clinics provide is not only free vision screenings and a pair of eyeglasses, but the power to transform the futures of underprivileged children. For these students, eyeglasses finally allow them to clearly see the text their teachers write on the whiteboard, which can lead to dramatic improvements in their grades. Their report cards used to be filled with red marks (failing grades) because they couldn’t clearly read the teacher’s writing, but after getting the eyeglasses, their grades soared instantly, improving from F (failing) to A (90% or above).
The Tzu Chi Vision Mobile Clinic provides basic vision examinations, including vision tests, refraction exams, and color blindness screening. While most people do these tests roughly every two years, receiving such examinations involves extra expenses for many low-income families, which they can’t afford.
Therefore, Tzu Chi’s free vision clinics are like a heavenly blessing. The services provided to struggling Hispanic residents not only care for their eyes but also nourish their spirits. The volunteers personally witnessed their joy and are filled with the joy of helping others.
Mutual Efforts in Guarding Community Health
Tzu Chi leverages partnerships, bringing together mutual efforts from community organizations and individuals to safeguard community health. This time, the free vision clinic invited Sarafin Calvo Arreola, Director of the Huerta Resource Center, to work with Tzu Chi, aiming to provide free vision care services to communities in Las Vegas.
The people coming to the free clinic, a joint effort between Huerta Resource Center and Tzu Chi, were mostly Hispanic and in urgent need of vision care. The positive response from the public was both consoling and concerning, as the speed and number of applicants indicated that there have been many people who are in urgent need of this vital service.
The Mobile Clinic’s comprehensive vision equipment enabled swift assistance for patients. It only took one hour to complete both vision screening and eyeglasses fitting, and long-standing vision issues were resolved instantly. Seeing the patients’ joy when putting on their new eyeglasses, the volunteers were deeply moved and became more resolute in their commitment to “Safeguarding Life, Safeguarding Health, and Safeguarding Love,” as the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation’s motto proclaims.
