Napolo wasn’t aware that she was suffering from trachoma, a bacterial infection of the eye and the leading cause of blindness in areas with shortages of water and crowded living conditions. The bacteria spreads easily through contact with eye discharge from infected people on hands and clothing, and also through direct transmission by flies. 

If left untreated, trachoma causes the eyelids to turn inward, making the eyelashes rub painfully against the surface of the eye. This causes permanent scarring of the cornea and irreversible vision loss.  

Without access to regular health care, Napolo turned to traditional remedies. Her family members would pluck out her eyelashes to help ease the pain, but the relief never lasted. The irritation always returned, and over time, Napolo’s vision became worse.  

In her Maa community, many people had similar symptoms, and plucking one’s eyelashes out was considered normal. Health workers occasionally visited their community, but Napolo often missed them because she was always out looking after her animals, sometimes even crossing over the border to let the animals graze in Tanzania. She somehow managed despite her diminishing vision and increasing pain.  

One fateful day, an Operation Eyesight-trained Community Health Promoter visited Napolo’s home – and the visit changed everything. 

You see, for many years Operation Eyesight has been working to eliminate trachoma in communities like Napolo’s. Through the Kenya Trachoma Elimination Program, funded by Sightsavers International, Operation Eyesight and partners are working to eliminate trachoma in Narok West Sub-county and the entire country by 2028. With this support, and in collaboration with the Narok County Department of Health, we launched a door-to-door screening initiative to identify remaining cases of trachoma trichiasis – the painful late stage of the disease. We provided training and resources for local Community Health Promoters. They screen people in their communities and refer those in need of eye care to our nearest partner facility. 

During a community screening in November 2024, Napolo was identified and referred to Talek Health Centre, an outreach site that provides surgical treatment for trachoma patients. At the health centre, the ophthalmic team examined Napolo’s eyes and confirmed her diagnosis. 

Napolo agreed to undergo eyelid surgery to correct her inward-turned eyelids. The procedure was successful, and her recovery brought immense relief, preventing further damage to her eyes and preserving her remaining vision. 

“I have longed for this comfort for decades. There is no more discomfort, and I can open my eyes freely,” Napolo said. “I thank Operation Eyesight and the doctors who assisted me, and I will definitely refer anyone in my community that has the same problem so that they can be assisted.”  

Napolo’s story shows how access to quality eye care can transform lives. 

Did you know? Trachoma is the leading cause of infectious blindness.   

Currently, 103 million people live in trachoma endemic areas and are at risk of trachoma blindness, and presently 1.9 million people are experiencing vision impairment or blindness due to the disease.¹ It is found in 32 countries, in areas with shortages of clean water and crowded living conditions. Caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis, trachoma is spread by eye-seeking flies and personal contact. Children and women are at particular risk. 

Operation Eyesight follows the World Health Organization-endorsed SAFE strategy, which has proven effective in eliminating trachoma. The SAFE strategy is a comprehensive treatment and prevention program that includes Surgery to treat the late stage of the disease, Antibiotics to eliminate infection, Face washing and hygiene education, and Environmental change including wells and latrines.  

Join us in supporting programs that bring vital vision care to people like Napolo and also address the root causes of vision loss. Together, we can eliminate trachoma and ensure everyone has access to the eye care they deserve. Give the Gift of Sight today. Join us in supporting programs that bring vital vision care to people like Napolo and also address the root causes of vision loss. Together, we can eliminate trachoma and ensure everyone has access to the eye care they deserve. Give the Gift of Sight today.   

1. http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/trachoma 
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The post Decades of eye disease pain relieved for grandmother in Kenya     appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Clean water.

When communities have access to abundant clean water, they can wash their hands and faces regularly, do laundry more often, and prevent the otherwise relentless transmission of the disease. That’s why we are working hard with communities and partner organizations to make sure that the people in our project areas have access to a local, sustainable clean water source.

The prevalence and effects of trachoma

There’s been a lot of good news in the eradication of trachoma in recent years. In 2023 alone, Benin, Iraq and Mali each received certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem. Also, the number of people at risk of getting the infection fell from 125 million in 2022 to 115.7 million in 2023, a significant reduction.²

But the hard work must go on.

Ethiopia has some of the highest rates of trachoma worldwide, with the prevalence in the Amhara Region estimated to be nearly 63 per cent. In that country, trachoma is the second leading cause of blindness overall.³

Trachoma continues to infect people in 42 countries and has caused blindness or visual impairment in roughly 1.9 million people. It remains the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. And the effect on the workforce in these countries is huge. According to a recent paper by the WHO, the loss of productivity due to trachoma costs somewhere between US $3-8 billion each year.⁴

To people like Stephen, in Narok County, Kenya, having trachoma meant not being able to support his family. The father of four, who works as a motorcycle courier, struggled with the infection for years. He tried eye drops, eyeglasses and several surgeries before the trichiasis in his right eye, caused by repeat trachoma infections, was fully resolved.

Since undergoing a successful final surgery at one of our partner hospitals, the young man now acts as an eye health ambassador in his community, making sure people know what the infection is, the role of hygiene in stopping its spread, and how to get it treated.

How an infection leads to blindness

Years of repeat infection from trachoma causes scarring to the eyelid. This scarring can be so severe that the eyelid turns inward, causing the eyelashes to rub against the eyeball. This leads to severe pain, light intolerance and scarring of the cornea.

If left untreated, the damage to the cornea can cause vision impairment, usually between the ages of 30 to 40 years⁵, although it can happen in children as well. Trachoma causes 1.4 per cent of blindness globally.⁶

Women become blind from trachoma four times as often as men. This is likely due to frequent infections they get while caring for small children, who often pass trachoma on to others.

How we’re working to eliminating trachoma

At Operation Eyesight, we follow the WHO’s SAFE strategy for controlling and preventing trachoma. SAFE stands for:

S: Surgery to treat trichiasis (the painful late stage of the disease)
A: Antibiotics to eliminate infection
F: Face washing and hygiene education
E: Environmental improvement including wells and latrines

The foundation for the strategy is environmental improvement, namely – providing access to clean water. Over the decades, we’ve worked with communities to rehabilitate and drill hundreds of boreholes. In recent years, most of our work with water has been concentrated in Zambia and Kenya, but we are also getting involved in more water projects in Ethiopia as we expand our programs there.

Along with drilling and rehabilitation, we work with local governments to make sure people can fix the boreholes when they break down. In Zambia, that means financing the training of volunteers called Area Pump Minders (APMs) to do routine maintenance and repair of boreholes. The program helps ensure that there is a system for repair work, with locally-available toolkits and spare parts, and that monitoring of the water supply is happening at the village level. In addition to helping their communities, some of the APMs go on to find paid work repairing privately-owned boreholes. Over the last two years, we’ve seen several women join the traditionally all-male teams, and we hope to recruit more in future.

The community involvement doesn’t stop there. We also work with volunteers to form WASH committees who help educate other people, especially children, in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. In Ethiopia, we are working with partners to train teachers in WASH so they can pass on their knowledge to thousands of students. Our work in Ethiopia has also involved fixing up latrines and providing menstrual supplies, both of which can help keep teenaged girls in school longer.

Antibiotics also go a long way to preventing and treating existing cases of trachoma. We work with local governments and partner organizations to provide these antibiotics to areas with high prevalence of trachoma. Earlier this year, we collaborated with partners in a Mass Drug Administration project in Kenya’s Narok County. Despite wet road conditions that made it challenging for crews to access all the communities, the project managed to administer the antibiotic azithromycin to more than 215,000 people!

Throughout the process, our trained community health volunteers work tirelessly to provide education on the importance of facial cleanliness and environmental improvements in stopping the spread of trachoma.

Finally, with help from our generous donors, our partner hospitals can offer surgeries free of charge to people with advanced stages of trichiasis to alleviate the pain and prevent further loss of sight.

The ripple effects of clean water

We’re involved in clean water projects as a means of preventing trachoma, but the effects of providing clean water to communities are countless. The installation and maintenance of boreholes prevents dozens of waterborne diseases that sicken and threaten the lives of many, and that keep whole communities trapped in the cycle of poverty. Sustainable boreholes help people grow gardens full of fresh vegetables, allow them to raise livestock and improve the quality of life for everyone around them.

The effects of access to clean water are especially beneficial to women and girls. Here’s why:

Education and economic opportunities: In many communities, women and girls are responsible for fetching water, a task that can be extremely time consuming and physically demanding. This can prevent girls from attending school and women from pursuing income-generating activities. When clean water is locally available, girls are more likely to complete their schooling, and women have more time for activities that empower them economically.

Reduced gender-based violence: Providing access to clean water within communities reduces the need for women and girls to travel long distances for water, decreasing their vulnerability to the violence and harassment that they risk when collecting water.

Hygiene and menstrual health: Clean water is essential for maintaining proper hygiene, including menstrual sanitation. When women have access to clean water and sanitation facilities, it positively affects their overall health and dignity.

Community development: Women are often key contributors to the well-being of their communities. When they have access to clean water, they can actively take part in and lead initiatives that enhance the overall living conditions in their communities.

In 2023, we partnered on two new boreholes at schools in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region. In Zambia, we repaired 25 boreholes in the Mkushi District, trained 20 new Area Pump Minders and set up more WASH committees.

You can help us continue our water projects in 2024 by making a donation today. Thank you for your support!

1. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/25148-trachoma
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2. https://www.trachomacoalition.org/news-blogs/who-reports-continued-progress-towards-trachoma-elimination ↩︎
3. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/trachoma#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20public%20health,at%20risk%20of%20trachoma%20blindness ↩︎
4. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/trachoma#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20public%20health,at%20risk%20of%20trachoma%20blindness ↩︎
5. https://www.who.int/health-topics/trachoma#tab=tab_2 ↩︎
6. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/trachoma ↩︎

The post Clean water, clear vision: The link between water and eye health 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.

38-year-old Evelyn lives in Muziyo village, about 35 kilometers south of Zambia’s Sinazongwe District. What started as itching and irritation of the eyelids turned into severe, burning pain. Before long, Evelyn couldn’t even blink without feeling intense pain, and she started to lose some of her vision.

“It was very painful for me to open my eyes, and bright sunlight only made it worse,” she explains sadly. She didn’t know what was causing her so much pain, and she feared she would lose her sight completely.

It was a very difficult time in Evelyn’s life. She couldn’t walk without someone to guide her, and she could barely open her eyes.  Sadly, Evelyn’s condition  continued on like that for five long months.

Lucky for Evelyn, an outreach screening camp organized by Operation Eyesight was held in her village.

Evelyn attended the camp, where she was screened and diagnosed with trachoma, a bacterial eye infection that causes permanent blindness if left untreated.

Evelyn was referred for trachoma surgery at the Maamba General Hospital. Finally, her suffering came to an end.

Today, Evelyn can open her eyes without experiencing any pain, and her remaining vision has been preserved.

Trachoma affects women and children most, as children will touch their faces with dirty hands, and mothers will develop the infection through contact with their kids. Unfortunately, women don’t usually access eye care services with the same frequency as men. In many cultures, women’s health isn’t seen as a priority, and other barriers, such as low income or distance to a health centre, prevent women from seeking help. But thanks to you, Evelyn and the other women of Muziyo received the care they needed!

“I’m really so grateful for all the help I received,” Evelyn says smiling. She’s happy that her treatment was provided free of cost, all thanks to our generous donors!

There are still millions of women like Evelyn who need your help. Make a donation today and give the gift of sight!

The post You’re bringing precious eye care to the women of Zambia! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.