Priya in Nepal can’t remember when she first started having trouble seeing, but her vision kept deteriorating until one day she fell and injured herself while climbing the steep trail leading from the village to her house. Figuring that blindness was an inevitable part of old age, she stayed at home, unable to visit friends and grandchildren. Eventually she couldn’t even reach the outhouse without assistance. She felt like a burden to her family.

Mary, in Kenya, loved school from her very first day in the classroom and dreamed of becoming a teacher someday. After she turned 13, she started having trouble reading the chalk board. She had to copy notes from her friends and couldn’t do her homework in the dim light at her house. Her grades began to slip. She asked her parents to take her to an eye doctor, but money was too tight because they were saving to send her brother to college. By age 15, Mary quit school and decided to get married, her hopes of teaching now crushed.

None of these characters are real, but they represent the millions of women and girls around the world who are living with avoidable vision loss and blindness. We hear stories like these every day.

The prevalence of vision loss is higher among women and girls than it is for men and boys; 55 per cent of people experiencing vision loss are female. And while there are some biological factors at play, the reasons for these discrepancies are largely social.

Why women and girls experience more vision impairment

Women live on average longer than men, and many conditions that rob people of their sight are associated with old age. This includes cataract, presbyopia, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. According to estimates, two-thirds of cataract blindness globally occurs in women.

Traditional gender roles are another factor, especially in some regions.

Women and girls are two to four times more likely than men and boys to get trachoma – the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Trachoma is caused by bacteria that spreads through contact on hands and clothing. Small children are especially susceptible, and in turn, they often pass it on to their caretakers. Women and girls may also get infected from household cleaning and doing laundry.

Obstacles to eye health care access

The barriers to health care for women and girls vary widely from region to region, but there are trends that we can observe across the countries where we work. These include:

• Cost and lack of financial decision-making capacity: Men often control the family finances. Women are less likely to work outside the home, meaning that the men and boys in their family who earn an income are often prioritized for spending on treatment.
• Limited healthcare infrastructure: In some regions, particularly in rural areas, inadequate healthcare infrastructure makes it difficult for women and girls to access eye care. The cost or lack of public transportation to the nearest facilities can exacerbate this problem for many women and girls, as can the social taboos and safety risks presented by travelling alone.
• Family responsibilities: Running a household and taking care of family members, duties that often fall on women, can make it challenging for women to take the time they need to get eye care.
• Lack of information: Unequal access to education for women and girls contributes to lower literacy rates and educational levels, which make it more difficult for women to learn about a specific eye condition or find out where they can get it treated.
• Cultural stigmas: Cultural norms and stigmas surrounding health issues, particularly eye health, can dissuade women from getting help. These cultural barriers may result in delayed or avoided medical attention.
• Lack of female healthcare professionals: A shortage of female healthcare professionals in the eye care sector can create discomfort for women and girls, potentially discouraging them from seeking assistance.

Addressing these diverse challenges is crucial for breaking down the barriers that prevent women and girls from accessing essential eye health care services.

Working toward gender equality

Our approach, called the “Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Program Model,” is designed to address inequalities to accessing eye health care, starting at the village level.

Most of the community health workers trained by Operation Eyesight’s partner hospitals are women, which gives them the opportunity to become trusted leaders in their communities and helps them contribute to family finances. They also bring eye health screenings to people’s doorsteps, meaning that women and girls don’t need to travel to get primary eye care and referrals.

Additionally, we work with our partner hospitals to establish vision centres closer to the communities where we work, making it easier for everyone to access diagnosis and treatment. Our partner hospitals also provide safe transportation for patients – usually by bus – to the hospital so that they can get their surgeries without worrying about how they’ll get there.

Finally, by providing surgeries, eyeglasses and other treatments free of charge – or at a highly subsidized rate – we can decrease some of the financial barriers women and girls face. We strive to provide quality eye care services to everyone – regardless of gender, age, ability to pay or other personal circumstances.

Dismantling gender-related eye health myths in the foothills of the Himalayas

In the villages of the Udhampur block in Jammu region, vision problems are often seen as a sign of bad luck. A girl wearing glasses might be told she’ll never have a good marriage, and a baby’s bad eyesight might be blamed on past life sins. A girl with a squint could be seen as a curse for the whole family.

Those are some of the beliefs a recent pilot project took aim at.

Created in partnership with NorQuest College and the Rotary Eye & ENT Hospital, the project provided services through a “Mobile Vision Centre” – a four-wheel-drive van staffed with an eye health team comprised mostly of women. The van roamed the area’s rugged roads, bringing primary eye care and education to people’s doorsteps.

More than 27,000 people received training pertaining to eye health myths during the project duration. A before-and-after survey that checked people’s attitudes and beliefs regarding eye health for girls and women showed dramatic differences after the intervention. With that success in mind, our teams are looking to implement strategies from the project throughout our programs.

Donate today to help us bring quality eye health care to more women and girls.

The post Gender inequalities in vision loss appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

If you knew how to fix it, you’d likely try to repair it yourself. If not, you’d probably call a plumber.

But what if you had no knowledge of how to fix the tap yourself and you couldn’t afford the repair cost? What if there wasn’t even a plumber available in your area?

Even worse, what if that water tap was your only source of water for several kilometres?

This scenario is all too familiar for thousands of people living in Kenya’s West Pokot County. Some of the key problems faced in this low-lying region are poverty, extremely high temperatures with pronounced droughts, and few reliable sources of water. Without clean water, the people in the region are vulnerable to many diseases, including trachoma, a bacterial eye infection which leads to irreversible blindness.

In an effort to alleviate the water crisis, other well-intending organizations have drilled boreholes and wells in the region, but unfortunately, many of these water projects have since broken down due to lack of maintenance. The water pumps and equipment have rusted and failed, and the boreholes have been abandoned by communities who do not have the money nor the training needed to repair them.

But now, there’s good news! Thanks to a generous donor foundation, Operation Eyesight implemented a project to rehabilitate five boreholes in West Pokot.

We replaced the old diesel-powered generators with solar energy systems, which included replacing the broken piping and installing new solar pumps and water tanks. In communities where the borehole was near a school, a tank and solar pump was installed inside the school compound for security purposes. Then, water was piped outside the school compound for livestock and general community use.

Thanks to our donors, five more communities now have convenient access to water for their homes, vegetable gardens and livestock – which benefits the communities both socially and economically. Best of all: these communities will have access to fresh water for generations to come.

Before our work began, the communities agreed to take full responsibility of these boreholes. We trained village committees on how to maintain the boreholes and sustainably manage their water supplies. Moving forward, we’ll conduct regular monitoring visits to offer technical guidance and any other support that may be needed.

And the good news doesn’t stop there! Not only are we providing communities with fresh water, but we’re also implementing all four steps of the World Health Organization-endorsed SAFE strategy to eliminate trachoma. SAFE stands for Surgery to treat trichiasis (the painful late stage of the disease), Antibiotics to eliminate infection, Face washing and hygiene education, and Environmental improvement (which includes boreholes). By providing communities with antibiotics, access to surgery services, hygiene education and functioning boreholes, we’re saving people’s sight!

All of the communities were eager to receive our support and are actively participating in the projects. They fondly refer to our project staff as “watu wa maji na macho,” which is Swahili for “the water people and eyes.” Like us, the communities are grateful for our donors’ support to eliminate avoidable blindness in West Pokot. Thank you!

March 22 is World Water Day! To mark the occasion, please consider donating to our trachoma surgery program. Thank you for your support!

The post This looks like a job for… “the water people” appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Evalina Kalata is a child of displacement.

Before she was born, Evalina’s parents, along with 57,000 other poor tribespeople who lived along the banks of Zambia’s Zambezi River, were forced out of their homes to allow for construction of the gigantic Kariba Dam.

Evalina grew up in a re-settled and remote village called Nang’amba, where life was hard and water was scarce. As a result of poor sanitation, blindness from the agonizing eye disease known as trachoma was common.

Evalina’s mother and grandparents tell stories of their late relatives who suffered from irreversible blindness due to trachoma. In those days, there were no eye health programs to help the tribespeople understand what was happening to their eyes; they thought they were bewitched and didn’t know to seek medical help.

Today Evalina is 27 years old, and a parent of three children herself. Fortunately, she is aware of trachoma and understands the importance of eye health, thanks to educational sessions that are now held in the village. When two of her children contracted trachoma a year ago, she and her husband knew to seek help for them at the local health clinic. The children were given medicine to treat the infection, and they are both doing well today.

In 2013, Operation Eyesight drilled a borehole in Nang’amba as part of the SAFE strategy to improve environmental hygiene and help prevent the spread of trachoma. The community now has clean, safe water for drinking and washing.

The village has also implemented a community-led sanitation program. Community members are encouraged to wash their hands and faces as frequently as possible. In addition, families like Evalina’s have constructed latrine pits to improve sanitation.

Community-led sanitation along with the provision of the borehole has improved the livelihood of the tribespeople, and they are proud of the work they have done to prevent avoidable blindness.

“There will be no more blindness for my family or for my children,” explains Evalina. “I make sure that my children wash their faces as many times as possible so they will not suffer from this disabling disease.”

Evalina and the entire village are grateful for the borehole that has brought such joy to the community.

“We thank Operation Eyesight and its donors for remembering us,” says Evalina. “May the good Lord bless them.”

To learn more about our trachoma projects in Zambia click here.

The post Community establishes hygienic roots appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

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 the other villagers see today!

In late 2013, Operation Eyesight drilled a borehole which provides clean, safe water to everyone at Kalemungorok. For Ann and the rest of the community, the borehole is a blessing.

“It is like a new dawn for me! We can easily access the water for drinking, cooking and for bathing. I want to be as clean as government officials, clean and smart,” she says, adding that before the borehole, the only time she wore clean clothes was when the clothes were new. Only occasionally did she risk bathing in the river, fearing attacks from crocodiles.

Today, Ann and her community not only have water for household use but also for their herd animals. All their water containers are filled to capacity at all times! Both girls and boys can easily access water, leaving more time to study. The community and schoolchildren at Kalemungorok have been sensitized to the need to observe personal hygiene, with an emphasis on keeping their eyes clean to avoid the infection of trachoma.

Ann is still in disbelief because she never thought she it would be so easy to access water. She thought she was condemned to a life with no water. This is not true anymore.

“It is like living in a dream!” she says. “Thank you!”

In 2011, Operation Eyesight began to implement a trachoma elimination project in Pokot with the goal of eradicating blinding trachoma. In late 2013, Operation Eyesight drilled a borehole at Ngo’tut, which is fully equipped and operational, and drilled a second borehole at Ann’s village, Kalemungorok. If you’d like to learn how you can help sponsor a well in the Pokot region, please contact us at 1-800-585-8265. 

The post Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 2 of 2) appeared first on Operation Eyesight.