When Roshni was finally able to have cataract surgery, her vision was completely restored. She was once again able to work around the house and help with field work such as feeding the cattle. Roshni’s daughter, Sonam, was inspired by the incredible impact this sight-saving surgery had on her mother and their entire family. As Roshni no longer needed Sonam as a full-time caregiver, Sonam decided she wanted to help others the way her mother had been helped.

Sonam trained to become a community health worker, and she joined the Operation Eyesight project team in. In this role, Sonam conducts door-to-door surveys in communities near her own, screening people for eye conditions and referring them to a vision centre or hospital when further diagnosis or treatment are needed. Sonam’s visits provide hope for people who have been suffering with vision impairment, not knowing where to go for help. She also provides health education and assesses the health status of each member of the community, including pregnant women, new moms and children under the age of five.

Thanks to the help that Roshni received, her daughter is now providing eye health care to so many more people in need. Their family is thriving, and the effects of Sonam’s work in communities near her home will last for years to come.

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In communities like Regina’s, providing water is generally the responsibility of the women and children of the household. With such a long distance to travel to collect clean water, they were unable to do anything else, including attending school.

When they didn’t have enough clean water, they were forced to collect from unclean sources, and Regina’s household usually suffered from diarrheal diseases. They also faced the risk of contracting trachoma, a painful bacterial disease that can lead to permanent blindness. All this sickness and daily walking took its toll on Regina and her children, and it interfered with her children’s ability to get an education.

In 2020, Operation Eyesight rehabilitated the borehole in Regina’s village, transforming the lives of her and her children. Thanks to donor support of our borehole programs, Regina is able to collect clean water right in her own community. Her children are healthier and can attend school, and she has time to do other things, including working in her vegetable garden.

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Two years ago, Pamela started to notice her vision failing. She visited a local health facility and was given eye drops. Unfortunately, her condition continued to get worse. She became unable to walk to the community borehole to collect water without help from her children. Sometimes her children had to miss school because she needed their help with the household chores.

And as a woman in her early 30s, it was unusual to suffer from cataracts, so many people in her village believed her condition was the result of a spell cast by people she had offended. She was miserable, and she was devastated that she could no longer care for her children.

When she attended a church service one Sunday, Pamela heard about an outreach screening camp in her village. She attended the camp and was referred for surgery at Operation Eyesight’s partner Maamba General Hospital, where she was provided with cataract surgery free of charge thanks to the generosity of our donors.

Pamela is now hopeful for a better life for herself and her children. Her vision has been completely restored. She is very happy to be independent again, carrying out all the household chores that she did before to care for her family.

The post Enabling mothers to build a better life for themselves and their children appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Seven-year-old Deborah lives in a small farming community in Ghana. After school and on weekends, she and her seven siblings help their parents on their cocoa farm.

When Deborah was four years old, she suffered an eye injury when she was hit in her left eye with a stick. The injury didn’t seem to affect her daily activities, until she developed a protrusion through a weak point in her eye and a corneal ulcer. As a result, Deborah suffered from severe pain in her left eye, and regular headaches and fever. This illness kept her from attending school regularly.

Deborah’s mother, Rebecca, felt completely helpless. She hated seeing her young daughter in constant pain. They travelled to different hospitals to try to get help for Deborah, but they couldn’t afford the treatment, and Rebecca wasn’t able to end her daughter’s suffering.

Rebecca was given hope for her daughter when a midwife visiting their village recommended they visit the Essikado Government Hospital, a surgical outreach post for Watborg Eye Services, an Operation Eyesight partner.

Through the generosity of our donors, Deborah was given the surgery she needed and is doing very well. Rebecca is very relieved that her daughter’s pain has subsided, and that she will be able to return to school on a regular basis as soon as she has healed from the surgery.

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