Children like Night cannot wait.
Night is five-years-old and dreams of becoming a teacher when she grows up. In Kenya, becoming a teacher could give Night an income, independence and respect. But the child who sits in the darkness and draws on the floor with a stick will not become a teacher. Not unless she has urgent surgery to remove the cataract both her eyes.
In times of crisis, the vulnerable become even more vulnerable. For children like Night, days can mean the difference between sight and a lifetime of blindness. We simply cannot wait.
If we don't reach children in time, their blindness becomes permanent. Your donation today will help provide 37,573 cataract operations in Kenya, and allow over 2 million people to get their eyes screened.
In poor countries like Kenya, there is a critical shortage of eye health care professionals. For people living in remote areas, they have to travel hours to reach it. Your donation will help train 23 eye surgeons and 19,329 community health workers in Kenya this year.
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Clementine was just one of those people facing this scenario: she was desperate to help her son, but the village where they live is hours from the nearest hospital. Travelling is really not an option for people in her situation.
Without outreach programs like the ones run by The Fred Hollows Foundation, finding help would have been very difficult. But a community health worker visited the area where Eric lives, and contacted Dr Ciku Mathenge, a leading eye surgeon who has restored sight to thousands of people
"To be blind in a place like this really means death," says Dr Kibata from Kenya. This can be the harsh reality of a blind child’s life chances, growing up in a poor country where 45% of childhood blindness could be prevented.
Thanks to generous supporters, we were able to reach children like Night and restore their sight. When she came home from hospital, Night was transformed. She ran around, playing with newfound freedom. As her sight had been restored, so had something else – her dreams. Her father told us, “Night will be free now. And I believe she will be a teacher.”
Children like Night cannot wait. Without you, they will go blind.