I also had fond memories of a small Mayan man from the Chiapas region who was about 70 years old. As an indigenous person, he hardly spoke any Spanish, but I understood that, almost blind, he no longer felt like a full member of his village community.

Later, when he regained his sight, he burst into tears during the follow-up visit. He could now make himself useful again in his community and was not a burden to anyone.

But he still could not really believe why a project team from faraway Switzerland, of all places, was willing to make his life worth living again.