My name is Sherryl Brendon, and I’m the co - founder of Eyes of Hope International. This nonprofit was born out of something very personal — my daughter, Hannah. Hannah was born with a rare condition called bilateral anophthalmia. She is completely blind.

At first, we were overwhelmed — not just by the emotional weight of it, but by the practical realities. In Sri Lanka, there was no roadmap. No therapy programs. No early intervention services. And very little hope. Like any parent, I wanted to give my child the best future possible. So, we made an enormous decision: we left Sri Lanka and moved to Germany, searching for a better life and real support. And we found it. Hannah began therapy, received assistive tools, and slowly began to flourish. But while watching her progress, I couldn’t shake a question that haunted me:

“What happens to the children we left behind?”

That question became a mission. I realized that while Hannah had been given a second chance through access, opportunity, and care — thousands of blind children in Sri Lanka still had none of that. No voice. No access. No options. That’s why we created Eyes of Hope International. We are building what we never had in Sri Lanka — early therapy access, assistive tools, caregiver support, and dignity for blind children. What started as a journey to help one child is now a mission to reach many. We are not a large foundation. We are a family who refused to accept that blindness means isolation. And now we are working to ensure every blind child in Sri Lanka can grow up with the same hope and opportunity my daughter received.