Seventy-year old Ann Adoyole lives in a tiny village in one of Kenya’s dustiest, most arid regions: West Pokot County. Along with other women and girls in her community, she has spent most of her life searching for and fetching water for her family. Then suddenly, in late 2013, everything changed…!

What a difference Ann and the other villagers see today!

In late 2013, Operation Eyesight drilled a borehole which provides clean, safe water to everyone at Kalemungorok. For Ann and the rest of the community, the borehole is a blessing.

“It is like a new dawn for me! We can easily access the water for drinking, cooking and for bathing. I want to be as clean as government officials, clean and smart,” she says, adding that before the borehole, the only time she wore clean clothes was when the clothes were new. Only occasionally did she risk bathing in the river, fearing attacks from crocodiles.

Today, Ann and her community not only have water for household use but also for their herd animals. All their water containers are filled to capacity at all times! Both girls and boys can easily access water, leaving more time to study. The community and schoolchildren at Kalemungorok have been sensitized to the need to observe personal hygiene, with an emphasis on keeping their eyes clean to avoid the infection of trachoma.

Ann is still in disbelief because she never thought she it would be so easy to access water. She thought she was condemned to a life with no water. This is not true anymore.

“It is like living in a dream!” she says. “Thank you!”

In 2011, Operation Eyesight began to implement a trachoma elimination project in Pokot with the goal of eradicating blinding trachoma. In late 2013, Operation Eyesight drilled a borehole at Ngo’tut, which is fully equipped and operational, and drilled a second borehole at Ann’s village, Kalemungorok. If you’d like to learn how you can help sponsor a well in the Pokot region, please contact us at 1-800-585-8265. 

The post Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 2 of 2) appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Special thanks to our Assistant Director of Africa, Alice Mwangi, for sharing Ann’s story with us!

Ann Adoyole is 70 years old, and lives in a village in West Pokot County in Kenya. She has two sons and several grandchildren. Since she came to live in this village after her marriage many years ago, she made the trek on a daily basis to fetch water from the Suam River, several kilometers from where she lives.

When it rains, the water gets muddy and dirty – yet Ann and other community members still had to fetch it because there was no other source of water. One rainy season, the villagers found a dead body floating down the stream towards their community, but this did not deter them from collecting the water. What else could they drink?

Whenever the water became extremely dirty, the villagers filtered it using locally-available materials, and purified the water by squeezing juice from sisal leaves, mixing it with the water and leaving it overnight. Ann knew the process didn’t really clean the water because of the reoccurring diarrhea and other stomach ailments from which the villagers suffered.

Given the long distance to the river, Ann and the other women could make only two trips each day for water, fetching 20 liters in a plastic jerrican each trip. Over the years, she developed chronic back pain, which she believes is a result of carrying the heavy jerricans for long distances. In constant pain, she still had to manage the daily trek for water. There was no other option…

Like over 30 percent of Kenya’s population living in trachoma endemic districts, many Pokot people suffer from this terrible eye condition. Transmitted by flies and made worse by both cultural and environmental factors, trachoma infects the eyes and scars the eyelids. Left untreated, trachoma leads to blindness. What is Operation Eyesight doing to help people like Ann? Come back next week to learn more.

The post Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

In the smaller towns, I enjoyed colourful signs on the stores, tiny donkeys pulling carts as motorcycles roared past them, and bright smiles and waves from uniformed schoolchildren at the side of the roads.

In the countryside, I marvelled at the sight of scarlet nandi flame trees in full flower, zebras calmly munching on yellow grass, and the endless vistas of red-gold land and bluest sky.

Kenya is a visual feast!

But if you are avoidably blind, this country of blazing sunshine might seem as dark as night, or as dim as a smoke-filled room. You might feel the sun’s rays but not be able to enjoy the way it illuminates the brilliant colours that abound in nature and culture.

As Operation Eyesight’s director of communications, I’ve been in Kenya for almost two weeks now, along with a talented photographer, Ric Rowan. Together we’ve been gathering stories and photos about the women, men and children whose lives are impacted by Operation Eyesight’s work. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be sharing them with you.

I was familiar with these projects; yet experiencing them first-hand has been a powerful experience unlike any I could have imagined.

For instance:

• Gowned and capped at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, I watched my first-ever cataract surgery, marvelling at the surgeon’s microscopic stitches that would return vision to a blind eye.

• After regaining her sight in successful cataract eye surgery at Kitale District Hospital, a grateful patient invited us to her home, where I was honoured with a very special gift – a live chicken, its legs tied with pink ribbon.

• In the community of West Pokot, I watched trachoma patients, their eyes blinded by this terrible condition, lining up patiently to see the surgeons who might be able to help them see again… or might not, depending on how long their eyes had been damaged.

It’s true: I have seen unbelievable poverty and suffering over these two weeks here in Kenya, yet I have also seen immense joy. I have seen the smile lighting up an elderly woman’s face as she sees her grandchildren for the first time. I have had my hands wrung in gratitude by a father whose son can see again. And I have watched patients, young and old, walk out into Kenya’s blazing sunshine, open their eyes and SEE what is in front of them.

An amazing and humbling experience.

Please return next week to see Kenya and other African countries … through my eyes.

The post Eyes on Kenya…mine and now yours appeared first on Operation Eyesight.