Widow of American Tom Little Tells of How The Opthamologist Helped Blind Afghans See Again

It was a calling from God; a chance to make a difference in a country where medical needs were great. The widow of Tom Little, the opthamologist who was gunned down in Afghanistan on Friday with nine others, opens up about her life in Afghanistan with her opthamologist husband and their three children.

In an interview with CNN, Lilly Little speaks of the wondersul Afghan people and how they would do anything to protect the Littles. Afterall, Little was helping the blind see. There were many people in the remote villages who had blindness that was reversible, blindness that developed from developed from diseases. The Littles would trek for miles to visit the people in these remote villages to try and cure these diseases and help the less fortunate see again. It took them one mission that lead them to a lifetime of serevice.

"We went, and we thought it was going to be two years, and it was 33," Lilly Little said. "We loved the people. ... The Afghan people were wonderful, absolutely wonderful to us. And they would be the first ones to protect us. So this is not the usual state of things, where they would murder all these people."

It was great to hear from the widow of Little. It answers questions about why the doctor and his wife would leave the comforts in the U.S. and devote a life to people in Afghanistan. It also raises questions too. Why? Why devote yourself to foreign issues, when there are issues tight in the U.S. - people that also need help. And, is it fair to the children to raise them in an unsettled land?

"We raised our three daughters through what was, at times, just hell," Libby Little said. "A hundred rockets a day was a good day." Shouldn't a U.S. couple be charged for child endangerment? Why would you brag about this?

According to Little, one hundred rockets a day was a good day. Wow, now that is a reason to relocate to Afghanistan. Imagine the fourth of July every day magnified 100 times. It's almost like a sickness going into an area, dodging bullets from the Taliban, waking up the next day and feeling joyous that you made it just one more day. 

"Family members lived underground to avoid bombings, the widow told CNN. Yet they stayed out of a love for the people and a passion for providing eye care for the needy. Now that is a real reason to live underground and put your children in danger.

Tom Little, a New York optometrist, was among 10 people killed by gunmen in Badakhshan on Friday in Afghanistan. The medical team made up of three American,s Two Afghans, One Germand and One Briton were robbed and shot one-by-one on a remote road. Their bodies were transferred to Kabul early Sunday. CNN reported that authorities gave details.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

"He died right where he loved to be -- and that was doing eye care in remote areas," Little said from her home in New York. "Our daughters are missing him terribly. But I think their feeling is, too, that this is a real passion that he had."  Passion, it was more of a sickness. What about the children?