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William Hess

Mrs. Martin

Critical Discourse

20 December 2017

Proposal: What’s the Course?

INTRODUCTION:

Why do a project like this? Why bring light to an issue that most people see as

completely nonsensical? Because we’re human. We need to care about us and each other.

That’s what the human race is all about. For since time can recall, impoverished

communities have existed and continue to suffer in today’s society. How did they come

about? Many things contribute to the downfall of communities into poverty, ranging from

things such as “ignorance, disease, apathy, dishonesty, and dependency” (Bartle). My

solution? In layman’s terms, it’s to reach out around the world(in time) and provide

affordable eyecare and priceless education to those in need. A lot of impoverished areas

lack monetary support or circulation in their own communities and government. Seeing

this as a major hurdle, we plan to bring free eyecare to these areas and educate them on

proper health care: a skill most can’t say they possess.

MOTIVATION:

In today’s society, poverty is not determined by the individual. Rather, it’s a set of

numbers imposed by government bureaucracies. For the United States, the Census

Bureau “determines who is poor using an economic poverty measure, by calculating

official poverty estimates using a set of dollar-value thresholds, or minimum amount of

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income needed to meet basic needs, that vary by family size and composition” (IRP). It

seems crazy, but it does show the significant differences in income between well-off

areas and impoverished areas. A lot of other questions get posed on this issue as well,

such as, “Does poverty discriminate?” or “Are there other factors that influence

poverty?”. These questions have been asked since the time the Census Bureau started

imposing poverty standards around the 1900s. This problem is imminent, going back to

my driving question, which is “How can the optometric community provide affordable

eyecare for impoverished communities?”. Back in my personal essay, I stated that, on my

mission trip, “I knew my purpose there: to help bring and spread the gospel to an

impoverished village. But, another objective of our mission tapped into my passion:

giving free eye exams and providing free glasses for those who needed additional vision

care” (Hess 1). It’s a passion for me, and it tugged the strings of my heart when I saw the

looks on the old people’s faces when they could see their children clearly. The purpose

isn’t about the recognition: it’s about the impact that you make on your surroundings.

Getting into the nitty-gritty of this topic, there’s a wall that keeps most from going

on in inquiry. It’s asking the why, when, and where questions about their inquiry,

especially on something as high of a magnitude as poverty. Two of the biggest reasons

that poverty exists are a lack of resources and a lack of education. Statistics from the

World Health Organization show that “nearly 700 million people in the world lack access

to safe water” (Ferguson). According to The World Food Programme, “nearly 800

million, or one in nine people, lack the food and nutrition necessary to live a healthy and

active life” (Ferguson). Although numbers for poverty didn’t come around

until the 1900s, poverty has very likely been a long-standing issue. Even the Bible has
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something to say about this, especially with leprosy. The book of Leviticus states that

“He is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his

infection is on his head. "As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn,

and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry,

'Unclean! Unclean!' "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the

infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp”

(Leviticus 13:44-46). Poverty existed even back in biblical times, which shows the

historical impact of poverty on human society.

Drug use is also a major problem for those in poverty, as “In Jamaica, the

National Council on Drug Abuse manages a project that targets homeless substance

abusers and has found that the prevalence of 75% substance use in our homeless

population in Kingston and St. Andrew” (NCDA). Poverty occurs everywhere. It’s not

just isolated to one area of the world, like most people think. There are communities in

the richest countries in the world that are riddled with poverty.

There are many different solutions to this problem, from cheap eyeglasses to

government funding. When it comes to cheap eyeglasses donations, it’s cost-effective,

sure, but it doesn’t really give a good scope to the real problems that they have. Some of

these problems include myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. With government funding,

you have the chance to break multiple poverty barriers with any funds received. At the

same time, almost no funds go to impoverished areas due to their “lack of impact” on the

rest of the country. Some technologies make eyeglasses with proper prescription and

lensing in a matter of minutes. The only downside: it’s not cheap to transport, nor are

they really that cheap to make. Most of these solutions have strengths and weaknesses, so
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they’re not 100% effective. My solution is unique: to educate leading professionals and

business leaders on the issue of impoverished communities and providing affordable

eyecare to them. Most solutions today are good as is, with the only thing I would change

being cost affordability for the community in need.

I hope to accomplish two specific things with this project: provide affordable

eyecare to impoverished communities and provide quality health education for those

communities.

DETAILS:

The project itself would be a seminar that I would go out and help inform

business leaders and medical professionals, specifically optometrists or opthalmologists,

about this issue. The environment would be worldwide, because making a global

difference is the ultimate goal. But, before we hit the big time, we need to start small,

such as in our own community. My research has helped me a lot on this journey, as I

have researched a lot of causes of poverty and vision disorders and how they affect

human life. This is why I want to create a seminar so I can educate on these key issues.

Also with this, I would like to form an organization called Optometric Provisions for All,

or O.P.A for short.

For this project to succeed, I would need open eyes and listening hearts so I can

get a good point to hit home in a community largely self-centered. I would also need to

partner with various businesses or organizations to help make a quality product to bring

to impoverished areas. The project also has different components. These components

would include a slide presentation on the issue, a demo of the product at hand(glasses),

and a framework to show how it all ties in with today’s societal needs.
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The project will be successful not by numbers. If that’s the intended goal of this

product, then I’m sorry, but that’s not how I measure success for this project. For this

project to hit home, I would need to see elation on the faces of those who have had their

sight restored, as that would bring a very happy joy to my heart. That’s also how I would

define success for this project: the journey to the goal. To be honest, the deliverable is

really just glasses or contacts, so not a lot of components in terms of making them, other

than getting prescriptions from those who need the glasses.

I am basing my success on my own personal journey through vision assistance. I

am partially color-blind and am partially hyperopic(far-sighted). With the help that I have

received, I have been able to see life’s moments with everything but the colorblindness,

which unfortunately isn’t curable. I would like to bring the same help I have received to

others.

TIMELINE:

To see the end goal from here is a long ways out, first off. It would take at least 8-

10 years for me to become actively involved in the project. Here’s the breakdown.

I would go and present this idea to professionals to get feedback and improve

upon the project.

Then, I would research more innovative solutions to the problem at hand to

expand possible things to fall back on if the initial plan doesn’t go to plan.

I would then focus on my education. First, I would earn a major in biology with a

potential double major with Spanish. Then, I would go to optometry school to complete

my education so I can jump into action.

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Finally, I would journey around the world to different impoverished areas to

provide the product to them.

CONCLUSION:

The journey has been long. It has been difficult. But, the time comes when

everything must resolve. In the first phase of this inquiry, I reflected on an unforgettable

adventure to a place that I had no idea would inspire my inquiry in such a way. Writing

about the problems of our society expanded my girth and pushed me to go all-in to this

project.

I then looked at the family perspective of poverty, which has many different

perspectives intertwined into it, including socioeconomic relations and struggle and

resistance. I specifically keyed in on alcoholism in families in impoverished communities

and how it has a detrimental effect on the eye.

Finally, I wrote this piece, detailing most everything about this project and how

it’s going to change this world. I think the project can come to fruition with enough grit,

but one just has to give that grit if they want to succeed. I think that this project has

taught me a lot about myself, about society, and about the problem I chose to research.

Thank you for this opportunity to research what we desire, and thank you for listening to

my ideas. I hope this project spreads far and wide across the world, and that it brings light

to the pockets of darkness in our world.

Works Cited

Bartle, Phil. “FACTORS OF POVERTY.” Factors of Poverty; The Big Five, CEC, 16 June

2013, cec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/modules/emp-pov.htm.
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Ferguson, Lia. “Why Poverty Exists and What We Can Do About It.” The Borgen Project, The

Borgen Project, 30 Nov. 2017, borgenproject.org/why-poverty-exists/.

Hess, William. “Critical Discourse Personal Essay.” Google Docs, Google, Oct. 2017,

docs.google.com/document/d/17jSCFLvrsUHNaxGEwvJuojp1yKVYnbJDKBqUKZl1dd

k/edit.

IRP. “Institute for Research on Poverty.” Who Is Poor? | Institute for Research on Poverty |

University of Wisconsin–Madison, IRP, 2016, www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq3.htm.

N/A. “Leprosy.” 21 Bible Verses about Leprosy, Knowing-Jesus.com, 1995, bible.knowing-

jesus.com/topics/Leprosy.

Smith, Paulette. “Drug Talk.” National Council On Drug Abuse, NCDA, 2017,

ncda.org.jm/index.php/publications/drug-talk/66-poverty-a-drug-abuse.