Trachoma is a blinding eye disease that is prevalent in Kenya’s Narok District. Caused by bacterial infection, it spreads easily through contact with eye discharge from infected people on hands, towels and clothing, and also through direct transmission by flies. But trachoma can be prevented with proper sanitation – and Sarah Kiruri, a teacher at… Continue reading Teacher is “mother of cleanliness” to her students
Category: Kenya
Overcoming flies, cows and 30 km to save sight
Thirty kilometres may not seem like a big distance to us, but it was a huge barrier for Norkitoip, a 45-year-old Kenyan mother of eight. Norkitoip was afflicted with trichiasis, a condition whereby repeated trachoma infections turned her eyelashes inward to rub her cornea. Although she described it as “painful and uncomfortable,” she and her… Continue reading Overcoming flies, cows and 30 km to save sight
Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 2 of 2)
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… Continue reading Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 2 of 2)
Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 1 of 2)
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… Continue reading Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 1 of 2)