ON THE SUNNY ISLAND IN LAKE TITICACA
The OneDollarGlasses team supplies the last Inca descendants with glasses.
ON THE SUNNY ISLAND IN LAKE TITICACA
The OneDollarGlasses team supplies the last Inca descendants with glasses.
Girlfriends | © Martin Aufmuth
LAKE TITICACA
Once the cultural life center of the legendary Inca Empire, Sunny Island in Lake Titicaca is still home to around 2,000 people. The lake itself is almost 4,000 meters high and about half the size of Lake Ontario.
GLASSES ON THE ISLAND
Approximately one out of five residents have never left their island, as we are told by locals. Glasses are usually as inaccessible as they are priceless for the inhabitants of the Sunny Island. The rush is correspondingly large.
SPECTATORS
We may be the first opticians to bring glasses to the island. Nobody wants to miss such an attraction.
FIRST MORNING SUN
At almost 4,000 meters (over 13 thousand feet) elevation, the air is very thin and dry. The air has around 60% less oxygen and it is easy to get out of breath when climbing stairs.
FLAG APPEAL
Every morning in front of the school, the flag is hoisted and the national anthem is sung. Children with ametropia usually sit in the front row in the classroom. If they cannot see well enough to do classwork, there is typically no help. Many children leave school in Bolivia without a degree.
FELICIA
Felicia (30 yrs. old) has six children and grows potatoes and quinoa in her small fields. Her husband is a fisherman on Lake Titicaca. What she likes most about her glasses is that she can now see her husband far across the lake when he comes home with his boat.
