Alice Mwangi is our country manager in Kenya, and she’s worked with Operation Eyesight for the last eight years.

We’re always excited for the chance to talk to our international team members because they have incredible experiences to share from their time in the field – and Alice had quite the story to tell!

Alice has seen how the work we do transforms the communities we help in Kenya. She told us that one reason Operation Eyesight is well-respected in the eye health sector by our partners and the governments we work with is because of our integrity.

“Our partners value us because they know that Operation Eyesight follows through,” she says. “Our partners trust us to do what we say we’re going to do, and that’s how we work together effectively.”

We wanted to know what Alice enjoyed most about her work on the ground, and this is what she told us:

“What I enjoy is being allowed to think creatively within the  Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Program’s framework. We’re encouraged to adapt the model to suit the community being served, based on their culture and infrastructure.

“Households appreciate being visited by community health workers. They can’t believe that nurses are coming to their doorstep to check on them and refer them for treatment.”

Alice’s passion for her work comes from her own experiences, seeing our work in person. She has witnessed how people’s lives completely changed after receiving sight-restoring treatment.

“One thing that really inspires me is seeing how many people’s lives are restored when sight is restored. Our team meets people who feel like they’ve been condemned to die because they’ve gone blind – they can’t work, they can’t participate in their communities and they feel hopeless. In so many cases they’re extremely isolated, and they don’t know where to go to seek help.

“So, when a community health worker comes to their door and tells them they can get their sight back, their faces light up with joy and hope. When they receive sight-restoring treatment, they’re reborn, and they have hope again. They can go back to working and participating in their community. It’s incredible to be a part of that.”

Alice told us that because so many of the communities we serve are so far away from the resources they need, patients need transport to and from our partner hospital or nearest vision centre. Sometimes the partner hospital will provide transport, but our staff have field vehicles specifically for the transportation of staff and patients.

In some cases, a village is too remote, and doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure to build a local vision centre. In those cases, it’s easier to set up an eye camp in a village and bring the ophthalmic staff to them. Community health workers go door-to-door, telling people about the eye camp and referring people who need a diagnosis.

It’s difficult to reach communities that are so far away and hard to access, but Alice is fueled by her passion and dedication to reach absolutely everyone with the quality eye care they need.

“One story that has stayed with me is about an older man who had gone completely blind. He lived in West Pokot, in a hilly region that’s incredibly remote. He had heard about Operation Eyesight, and his daughter walked with him to Lomut Health Center to seek treatment. The health center is a satellite facility for the Kapenguria Eye Unit. He told me he had walked 12 hours! I could hardly believe it. He had heard about Operation Eyesight and the work we do, and his desire to see again was enough to carry him through the long hours of walking to seek treatment.

“When he reached the health centre, he learned that he had been suffering from cataracts. Soon after, he received sight-restoring cataract surgery, and he was so excited! He couldn’t believe he had his sight back. 

“His treatment was completely paid for thanks to the support of our donors, and an Operation Eyesight shuttle bus was arranged to take him and his daughter home. The shuttle drove as far as possible before paying a local motorbike taxi to take them the rest of the way. In remote communities like his, there are no roads for traveling easily by car, and the most effective mode of transport is by motorbike. That’s how far away this man lived! Unfortunately, his circumstances aren’t unique. Many of the communities we serve are similarly remote and difficult to access. Even so, our team works hard to reach these communities to bring them quality eye care.

“I just remember how this man’s face lit up when the bandages were removed after his surgery! His smile stretched across his face, and he could SEE again. His many hours of walking were not in vain. With his sight restored, his independence and his hope were as well. It’s always inspiring to meet people like this man and see how their lives are transformed after eye surgery.”

We’re so proud to have Alice in the Operation Eyesight family!

And it’s people like YOU who make her work possible. Together we’re transforming entire communities through the gift of sight – For All The World To See!

The post A woman with a passion for restoring sight and transforming lives appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Many of our donors around the world celebrated Easter last weekend. Easter is often seen as a time of rebirth. This holiday welcomes the change of the season – the cold days of winter are done, and new life is born. Trees and flowers bloom and animals have their young.

Many of the people we help say that having their sight restored is like being reborn. Their sight gives them a new lease on life because they’re able to regain their independence, go back to work and care for their families. And children can go back to having fun and going to school when they don’t need to stay home to take care of their blind family member.

Your support has helped people like Akua…

“I worried a lot and I was scared I would die early in life,” says 56-year-old Akua from Ghana (above). Losing her sight meant she had to rely on her children for financial support. Eventually she was examined and diagnosed with cataracts at Saltpond Government Hospital. She was initially scared of the surgery that could restore her sight, but a nurse named Gladys reassured her. Now Akua can see again! Thanks to you, she’s returned to work, selling fish and charcoal!

And little Irene…

Little Irene (above) was born in 2012, three years after Operation Eyesight drilled a borehole in Siabaswi village, Zambia. She doesn’t remember what it was like to be without clean water, but her mother Katherine does. Women and girls could spend all day collecting water, and the unclean river water used to give the family monthly bouts of diarrhea. Now, thanks to you, children like Irene can get fresh water from a safe source close to home!

Your generous gifts have given so many people new hope for the future, but there are still thousands who need your help. Donate today and give the gift of sight – and renewed hope.

Thank you for your incredible support! 

The post Thank you for giving new hope to people like Akua and Irene! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a young man in a remote village, watching your parents struggle to bring food to the table, and realizing that you’re losing your sight?

And imagine what it would be like to be a mother living in poverty and watching your son go blind?

When Shivsagar started to lose his sight as a child, his mother didn’t have any other option but to take him to a healer in the village. Their village did not have a healthcare centre, and Shivsagar’s mother couldn’t afford the bus fare to the nearest hospital, let alone the expensive sight-saving treatments. Besides, taking Shivsagar to the hospital would cost her a day’s work and cost her family a day’s meal. So, she did all she could – placing all her hopes on the village healer and praying for her son’s remaining sight.

Sadly, the folk healer’s medicines had no effect. Shivsagar’s mother helplessly watched her son’s world go dark around him. He became alienated and eventually he was forced to drop out of school.

In many communities in India, men are expected to look after their parents when they grow old. However, instead of growing up to become a breadwinner for the family, Shivsagar depended more and more on his mother for his daily needs. But one day everything changed!

Years after Shivsagar lost his sight, his sister got married and moved to the city of Bangalore with her husband.

Operation Eyesight established a vision centre in Bangalore and Jyoti, one of our community health workers, went door-to-door in the area screening households for their eye health. As luck would have it, Jyoti met Shivsagar’s sister. When Jyoti heard about Shivsagar, she urged his sister to bring him to Bangalore.

So 20-year-old Shivsagar travelled 700 kilometers to his sister’s place in Bangalore and met with Jyoti. Jyoti referred him to the vision centre and the hospital, where the doctors identified the damage to his cornea and offered a cornea transplantation surgery at an affordable, subsidized cost of less than 100 Canadian dollars.

Cornea transplants need eye donors. After being referred for the surgery, Shivsagar returned to his village and waited for a donor. The long-awaited call came a year later!

Two weeks after the surgery, he could see his surroundings again, and his sight would keep improving for the next three months.

Shivsagar is at his sister’s recovering from his surgery, ready to head home to take on his new life. Once he returns to his village, he hopes to find a job to support his mother.

It’s a new beginning! Not just for Shivsagar, but also for his mom. Now she can rest easy knowing that her son can provide for their little family, and she knows that his future is bright and full of hope – all thanks to the support of incredible people like you!

Thank you so much for your incredible gifts that are helping to restore sight and hope for people like Shivsagar! There are still thousands like him who need your help. Please consider donating today and give the gift of sight to more people in need – For All The World To See!

The post Hope comes in the form of a community health worker appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

If you have a family of your own, whether you have kids or even grandkids, you might be thinking about how you can help support them today, tomorrow and in the future. For people like Prisila, the concern was being able to support her family while she’s still alive. But when her world went dark, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to help her family again.

Prisila is 76 years old and lives in a small village in India where most families make their living with farm work.

She’s a lively person whose age doesn’t stop her from caring for her family. Having lost her husband years ago, Prisila provided for her seven children – and then their children – all on her own, doing farm work and odd labor jobs.

“To me, family is everything,” says Prisila proudly.

But four years ago, Prisila’s world went dark.

She thought allergies were causing her blurry vision and hoped it would pass. Sadly, her vision faded until she couldn’t see at all. She didn’t know she could be treated, so Prisila didn’t seek help.

“I was so scared without my vision. I couldn’t care for my grandchildren anymore!”

But people like you changed Prisila’s life. Thanks to donor support, a community health worker was trained to go door-to-door in Prisila’s community to screen families for eye health issues. The health worker referred Prisila to a vision centre where she was diagnosed with cataract in both eyes. From there, she was referred to our partner hospital for surgery free of charge.

Thanks to compassionate people like you, Prisila can SEE again, and her independence has been restored! Today, she’s back to happily caring for her grandchildren.

There are thousands of families like Prisila’s who need your help. By leaving a gift to Operation Eyesight in your will, you can ensure that people like Prisila will receive the gift of sight even after you’re gone.

The post Your legacy gift could transform generations through the gift of sight! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.