All his life, Kamal has worked as a farmer. He raised two boys on money he earned working the land, and even now, at age 69, he continues to farm. But in recent years, he struggled with the work because of his failing vision.
Kamal lives alone with his wife in Auraha, a village in Nepal’s southern lowlands. His youngest son passed away due to illness, and his eldest moved out to start his own family. Due to financial difficulties, Kamal had never gotten an eye exam until recently, despite his poor eyesight.
Happily for Kamal, his village is covered under a community eye health project that we are running in collaboration with the Nepal Eye Hospital, our partner in Kathmandu. A community health worker visited his home and quickly noted that Kamal had cataracts in both eyes. The health worker encouraged Kamal to visit the nearby vision centre for a formal diagnosis.
At the vision centre, Kamal’s cataracts were confirmed. In his right eye, he was reduced to Hand Motion vision, meaning he could not even count someone’s fingers, but could only detect a hand waving in front of his face.
After being reassured that he would receive treatment free of charge, Kamal decided to go ahead with the cataract surgeries.
He recovered well from both operations, and as he was still nearsighted, he also received a pair of prescription eyeglasses.
Now, Kamal proudly sports his eyeglasses every day. He says he is grateful to the team from the Nepal Eye Hospital for taking on the role of his absent son – providing emotional and logistical support throughout the process. He is also very thankful to Operation Eyesight donors for making his sight-saving surgery possible.
Thank you to all our donors for helping Kamal regain his sight!
