Simon is a 67-year-old man who lives with his wife, children and grandchildren in a small village in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya. He has lived there all his life and has a mud-walled house with rusty iron sheet roofing.

Simon, and his wife, Gladys, have nine children, ranging from 41 to 15 years old. While Gladys takes care of the home, Simon has eked out a living as a tailor. He does a little farming on the side and has one cow to help provide for his family.

Simon’s tailoring business does well, as his clients are usually families that need school uniforms for their children, and Christmas is always a busy time when people want new clothes for the holidays.

But two years ago, Simon’s vision started to fade, and he had no idea why!

Eventually, he could no longer do his tailoring job, and while at home, he couldn’t see to farm or care for his cow.

“I missed sitting down with my children to help them with their homework. And now I can’t even tell which of my children is sitting next to me,” he said, with deep sadness.  

Being the sole breadwinner, Simon’s blindness robbed his family of their livelihood and drove them deeper into poverty.

“I became so dependent I even needed guiding to the latrine. I felt so sad. I thought, how can it be that I’ve gone blind, yet I’m still strong and healthy? I worried I would one day fall in the pit of the latrine, or drown in the nearby river while trying to get by on my own.”

Simon has a strong relationship with his family, and he’s become the peacekeeper for his loved ones.

“I usually act as a peacekeeper for my family when they disagree. I worried that they would be divided if I died and left them on their own.”

Without his sight, Simon had no hope for his future, and he feared for the well-being of his family. What could he do?

“I thought the future was bleak and without any flavour. How was I to live in darkness, having spent my entire life with good vision, doing my work and going wherever I pleased?” 

One day, Simon’s son-in-law met a community health worker named Bernard. Bernard was a former patient who received sight-restoring cataract surgery, and ever since, he has been inspired to help others in his community who suffer from avoidable blindness! Through his commitment, many people have already been helped.

Simon’s son-in-law told Bernard about Simon’s condition. Soon, the two men set out one morning to Simon’s home where Bernard identified Simon’s problem to be cataracts. Simon could barely believe his ears when Bernard told him that he could be treated free of cost at our partner hospital, the Kitale Eye Unit!

“All previous herbal remedies I tried failed, so I was a little anxious at first that nothing would restore my vision. But I started becoming confident about the treatment when Bernard encouraged me with his own story of regaining his sight after the same treatment.” 

And then Simon’s life was changed! He received cataract surgery on both eyes at Kitale Eye Unit – free of charge to him or his family, thanks to the incredible support of people like you!

Now Simon is extremely happy, and he’s picked up right where he left off.

“I’m excited! I want to get back to work because there will be a lot of business to catch up with. I will be able to provide for my family again and my child who’s been taking care of me can go back to school.”

Simon has gone back to his tailoring business and has a very positive outlook about the future.

“I can continue to help my family and my neighbours by acting as the peacekeeper, and I can provide for my grandchildren again! I pray that God bless the people in Canada who helped me with long lives so they can help more people like me. My life has changed forever, and my family and I are forever grateful!”

Can you believe it? Your support changed not only Simon’s life, but his family’s lives! That’s incredible, and we hope you know just how much your support means to the people you help. There are others like Simon who are needlessly living in darkness, and you can help them! Please consider donating to our cataract surgery program to give the Gift of Sight to more people in need!

The post A life turned right-side up – thanks to you! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

James was 51 years old when he went blind. He had lived unable to see out of his left eye for years, and one morning he woke up unable to see out of his right eye, either. When James could see, he worked as a brick-maker, supporting a family of six. The family resides in the Uasin Gishu County in Kenya, and they depended on James for their living.

James was in despair. “I couldn’t believe that I had just lost my only functional eye!” His family was equally at a loss. Suddenly, they seemed to be staring at an uncertain and bleak future. Without James’ income, they wouldn’t have enough to support themselves!

It was around election time in Kenya and James had been eagerly waiting to cast his vote for the leaders that he had put his faith in to change his and his family’s life. But to take advantage of any opportunities that could come from the results of the election, he needed to be strong and healthy, and able to see.

Yet there he was; unable to get by on his own. Frustrated and afraid, he felt he had become a dependent rather than the breadwinner of his family. Without sight, how was he to carry on his brick-making enterprise?

“I feared my business would crumble like half-baked bricks do when exposed to the slightest rain.”

Luckily for James, brighter days were just around the corner. James’ family was visited by a community health volunteer who informed them that medics from Huruma Sub-County Hospital’s Eye Unit were carrying out an outreach in the neighborhood. At the outreach camp, James was found to have bilateral cataracts and was booked for surgery at the hospital. The following week, James’ brother led him to the hospital.

It was a miracle! James received sight-restoring surgery on his left eye, which he had lost sight in years before his right, and he could see out of it again! A month later he had surgery on the right eye, and his vision was completely restored.

Now James has gone back to his brick-making business, which puts food on the table for his young family. What’s more is that he received surgery just in time for him to fully participate in the national general election, and to vote for his favourite leaders.

“It feels like getting a second chance at life. I took my eyes for granted but now I know what it means to be blind,” says James. “Now that I can see again, I will work hard and I know I will succeed.”

Thanks to the generous support of people like you, James received the Gift of Sight! Imagine! Your donation not only restored his vision, but his hope in the future for him and his family. There are many other families like James’ that need our help! Please consider donating to our cataract surgery program to give more people hope for a brighter future!

The post Restored eyesight builds hope for a brick-maker! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Great examples of this occur in our  programs in Ghana and Kenya, where we partner with Seeing is Believing to eliminate avoidable blindness by integrating primary eye care into the primary health care system.

Thanks to support from donors like you, our eye care programs are hard at work within the countries’ existing health structures and systems. We help hospitals help themselves by identifying gaps in human resources and improving facilities; and we work with communities to target their specific eye care needs and empower them to take ownership of their eye health.

By educating staff members at partner hospitals on all aspects of eye health care, we help instill appreciation of the importance of the eye care programs they’re helping to implement. This builds the staff’s pride and ownership of their work!

This approach has served us well in reducing costs and improving patient services, while ensuring the continuity of the project. Our sustainable practices ensure our programs – and the community benefits they provide – last well after funding has ended.

Because of donors like you, we’re able to implement cost-effective programs that eliminate avoidable blindness on a sustainable basis. Thanks to you, we’re one step closer to realizing this exciting vision − For All The World To See!

The post The effects of your generosity goes on – long after our work is done! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Thanks to you…

Thirteen-year-old Tom (and thousands of children, women and men) in the Lake Kariba area, Zambia, received antibiotics to treat and prevent blinding trachoma!

Young Deborah and her sister Claries in Kenya received new prescription eyeglasses, and now they can see clearly and are doing better in school. Thanks to you, their lives and futures have been brought into focus!

This man in Ghana received sight-saving surgery, thanks to the incredible generosity of people like you! He’s grateful to have his sight back and his quality of life restored. His life is one of thousands your generosity has changed!

Fourteen-year-old Atul in India developed cataracts as a young boy, and he feared his future was lost. But thanks to your kind heart, he received sight-saving surgery and now has returned to his studies to build his future. Atul is just one of thousands whom your generosity has helped!

Finally, thanks to generous donors, we were able to re-commence operations in Nepal. Today, we’re partnering with the Nepal Eye Hospital in Kathmandu to provide families (like the one pictured above) with the quality eye health care they deserve. Thank you!

We at Operation Eyesight hope you and your family will enjoy this Canadian Thanksgiving with lots of turkey and stuffing! Thank you so much for all that you do – For All the World to See.

The post Thank YOU for all that you do! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.