Tom Little, originally from Kinderhook, New York, is the program director at the National Organization for Ophthalmic Rehabilitation, NOOR, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Little and his wife, Libby, came to Afghanistan in the 1979 with their five-year-old daughter as missionaries to help wayward hippies. Within weeks he connected with the NOOR center, which opened in 1966, and began working as an optician. He and his family have stayed ever since--even during Taliban rule--raising three daughters and caring for the eyesight of the people of Afghanistan. NOOR operates roughly a dozen eye camps throughout the country and each years cares for roughly 225,000 Afghanis and operated on more than 14,000 patients. His work continues to this day, helping the people of Afghanistan while Libby teaches at an international school in Kabul. One of his daughters, Nelika, is following in the families footsteps working for an NGO that helped oversee elections in 2005 and other transitionary oversight as the country begins to slowly move towards a more democratic society.

UPDATE: Tom Little was one of eight aid workers killed in Afghanistan in early August 2010 by Taliban. Little had worked in Afghanistan for more than 30 years and was one of six Americans killed. The six were medical workers belonging to the Christian aid group International Assistance Mission. The other victims included a German, a Briton and two Afghan interpreters.



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