Bringing eye care closer to home

Based on an interview with Caroline Ikumu, Country Director, Kenya

In Kenya, change often starts with women helping women. This is particularly true in Maasai communities where many families live in wide, dry landscapes and move with their livestock across vast distances. For those in need, distance, transport costs and the demands of daily life can make eye care hard to reach.

That is why Operation Eyesight focuses on both treatment and trust. Care needs to feel close, familiar and possible. “We want to ensure that no one is left behind,” says Caroline Ikumu. “Our programs are embedded in existing government structures, helping make the work sustainable.”

For Caroline, some of the greatest change has come through community health promoters. In many villages, women trained through Operation Eyesight’s programs have become trusted leaders. “It gives the women so much status,” she says.
One woman, once blind from cataract, had surgery and then helped other women in her village get to the hospital. “When they can see, they feel like it is magic,” Caroline says.

Caroline also remembers the gratitude of Maasai mothers whose children regained sight. One mother offered a leso, a traditional cloth. Another shared beadwork. These were not small gestures, but deeply meaningful expressions of dignity, trust and joy. “You cannot refuse, they are giving with a pure heart,” Caroline says.

This is what equitable care can look like in real life: women supporting women, trust growing within the community and local services becoming stronger over time. Just as importantly, county leaders are increasingly taking ownership of this work. In some places, local officials now attend community declarations, provide transport support and help carry eye health forward through county plans and budgets.

That kind of partnership helps services last beyond a single project, ensuring long term resilience and continued community led ownership locally.

Caroline relishes this larger change and what it brings to peoples’ lives. "We restore not only sight, but also hope for the future," she says.

Help restore sight and build stronger communities. Your gift can help train community health promoters, connect families with eye care and strengthen local health systems so that no one is left behind. Donate today to help more women, children and families access the eye care they need and the hope they deserve.