Thanks to you!

Categories: News, Our Work
As we looked back on the 2011 year during our annual general meeting this past week, I was filled with immense gratitude for our donors. All of the work we do – every single project we undertake and every single person whose life is changed – is thanks to your kind generosity. Because of you,… Continue Reading Thanks to you!

A child’s brush with blindness

Categories: Eye Surgery, Kenya, Our Work
Growing up, my two kids were prone to the usual childhood mishaps… scraped knees, bumped heads, sprained wrists, even the odd black eye. Fortunately, their eye injuries were rare and never vision-threatening. In Africa, however, I saw children with eye traumas caused by large razor-like acacia thorns, sharp splinters of firewood, poorly-aimed rocks and sticks… Continue Reading A child’s brush with blindness

Frontline workers reach remote patients in Africa (Part 2 of 2)

Categories: Communities, Kenya
Last week, I told you how many African countries are training frontline workers, including public health care staff, schoolteachers, midwives and traditional healers, to identify eye problems and other health concerns when they are working in the community. This type of community development program is highly effective in identifying health risks. When I was at… Continue Reading Frontline workers reach remote patients in Africa (Part 2 of 2)

Frontline workers reach remote patients in Africa (Part 1 of 2)

Categories: Communities, Kenya
When medical personnel are scarce and rural populations are sparse, it’s time to get creative. Basic eye care is a significant problem in many parts of Africa; in fact, sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest rates of visual impairment and blindness in the world. Poverty, disease and lack of access to eye care all… Continue Reading Frontline workers reach remote patients in Africa (Part 1 of 2)

A teacher learns that clear vision is possible again

Categories: Hospitals, Kenya
I met Sister Cecilia Chematia last year at Kenya’s Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in the small city of Eldoret. (Read more about my visit to the hospital here.) Operation Eyesight and its donors have supported the hospital’s eye unit since 2005. A 74-year old Roman Catholic nun from the Kaiboi convent, 50 km outside… Continue Reading A teacher learns that clear vision is possible again