Lordia is a 13-year-old girl who lives in Ghana. Her parents are poor, so they wanted to ensure their daughter’s future through her education.

But a couple years ago, her future looked bleak. When Lordia was 11, her teacher told her parents she was having trouble keeping up with her classmates because of her poor eyesight.

Not wanting their daughter to fall too far behind, her parents enrolled her at a school for the blind. However, it wasn’t long before the headmistress noticed that the young girl wasn’t blind at all! Concerned, she spoke to Lordia’s parents, telling them that their daughter required medical attention for her eyes.

Being from a devoutly religious family, Lordia’s parents resorted to prayer instead. For two years, Lordia lived with low vision, but no amount of prayer seemed to help their child’s eyes. Imagine the distress Lordia and her family must have felt! They were afraid her future would never improve.

One day, when Lordia and her family were attending a prayer service, they met someone who recommended Operation Eyesight’s partner hospital, Watborg Eye Services. Although Lordia’s parents were initially reluctant, her mother had seen a TV commercial funded by Operation Eyesight’s partner Seeing is Believing on the importance of eye health. Desperate to help their daughter, they took her to Watborg Eye Services.

And that’s when Lordia’s life turned around! At Watborg, she was examined and then given a pair of brand new prescription eyeglasses – at no cost to her family!

Lordia can now see and her parents can hardly contain their joy! Her father is especially grateful to Operation Eyesight and our donors for changing his daughter’s life.

“I’m so happy that professional eye care services are available to me and my family. I won’t waste any time in going to Watborg Eye Services should anyone in my family require eye health care in the future!”

There are hundreds of thousands of children like Lordia who live with impaired vision, and they need your help! You can help them by donating today!

The post New eyeglasses restore a little girl’s future! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Equally remarkable is how this project was accomplished through friendship between Canadians and Ghanaians. It started some years ago when Operation Eyesight became acquainted with ophthalmologist Dr. Boateng Wiafe. Our original support for Watborg Eye Services grew into an enduring relationship with Bo, leading to his appointment in 2009 as Operation Eyesight’s Regional Director for Africa.

More recently, the Taylor family of Calgary came to learn of Bo’s work, and they agreed to work with him to build something new. Don Taylor is president of Engineered Air, a market leader in heating, ventilation and air conditioning in North America. His son Cameron, who attended the opening, is president of Sherwood International Capital Limited. This family has a deep concern for the people threatened by blindness in Africa, and their generosity was a major factor in the completion of the new Watborg Eye Services facility.

To put this in perspective, I’d like to quote Pat Ferguson, president and CEO of Operation Eyesight: “The Taylors’ very generous donation for Watborg’s new facilities will strengthen Ghana’s eye care system and ensure those living in the area, regardless of income, have access to the best possible care. Operation Eyesight is focused on building support for sustainable eye health initiatives among threatened populations in Africa and India. For the poor in these countries, visual impairment is more than a disability – it’s a direct threat to life.”

Speaking of Canadians who care about Ghana, we’d also like to thank the Government of Canada which also made a large investment in the project through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Now that the hospital has reached this major milestone, Watborg’s ongoing success will depend upon excellence in day-to-day running. Much of that will fall to the nurses, of which I was one myself once. May 6 to 12 is International Nurses Week – a time to recognize the many contributions that these professionals make in the smooth running of any medical facility. I know Dr. Wiafe would agree with me. Best of luck to them all.

The post Celebrating a new hospital in Ghana (Part 2) appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

On Wednesday, we opened a brand-new facility to replace the old Watborg Eye Services clinic, which is located in the Awutu Senya District, just outside Ghana’s capital city, Accra. As you can imagine, the completion of a significant capital project like this is cause to celebrate. Finally, after years of planning and months of construction and equipping, this hospital is ready to go.

From my perspective as vice-president of our International Programs, I can tell you that the original clinic was well used, serving a population of over one million. But it was too small and worn out, and not able to meet the critical needs of these residents. Ghana has a population of 23 million, of which more than 200,000 are blind, mostly from avoidable causes. With increased space, more well-trained doctors and nurses, and the latest equipment, the new facility is going to make a major dent in those statistics, both in the areas of treatment and prevention.

Dr. Boateng Wiafe, the talented surgeon and administrator who directs all our projects in Africa, has been closely associated with Watborg for many years. You can imagine how thrilled he is to finally have better tools to do the job. The hospital is staffed and equipped to treat a wide range of eye problems according to international standards of excellence – offered to all, regardless of their ability to pay. It will also provide training programs, outreach eye screening for school children, and education to increase the awareness of blindness as a major public health issue.

In these and other ways, the Watborg hospital is truly unique, and will serve as a model that can be replicated in other African countries. I know it will have a huge impact on the availability and quality of eye care throughout West Africa.

Dr. Wiafe is pleased with the way the surrounding community was involved in the process, and how it will benefit in many practical ways. Here’s what he had to say:

“The Awutu Senya District is one of the newly created districts in Ghana. The district has some health centres, but the new and expanded Watborg Eye Services is the first eye hospital in the district. Just by opening up this area, we have increased development activities in the area. Besides the construction, Operation Eyesight put in the access road, and brought in water and electricity. So even before the facility has officially opened, it has activated the community.

“We envision this facility will provide quality eye care to the district. Formerly, residents would have to travel long distances to access eye care services, but now this barrier has been removed. The Institute will provide employment for some of the residents in the area. Already, a restaurant has been opened at the junction where the access road joins the highway, and we anticipate some shops and services will open. Taxi services will start coming to the facility, to bring patients.

“The community will also benefit from eye health education. The district director of health has already started using the Institute to train nurses and midwives as well as the volunteers on eye health. This will trickle down to the community so that they will all enjoy healthy eyes.”

Of course, none of this could happen without generous donors. Next week I’d like to tell you about the family from Calgary that made it all possible. We should have some more photos then too. Stay tuned…

The post Celebrating a new hospital in Ghana (Part 1) appeared first on Operation Eyesight.