Three stories of restored sight

① Three stories of restored sight – Suharni

“No one should lose their independence to blindness.”

Suharni has always been a caring mother and grandmother. Despite being unable to read or write, she has always worked hard to make ends meet and support her family.

But in the last three years her vision rapidly deteriorated. She could see ‘nothing at all’ and relied on her family to help her with the simplest of tasks.

Fortunately, a nurse trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation had visited and told Suharni about an eye clinic  run at the hospital nearby.  Suharni was overjoyed to learn she would be able to have surgery to remove her cataract.

It was a dream come true — Suharni could have her sight and independence restored. She would no longer need to rely on her family.

② Three stories of restored sight – TRUT


“We are worried about what will happen when we get older.”

Seven-year-old Trut is blind in one eye. She lives in a stilted wooden house with her mother, younger sister and grandparents Bea and Lay. The family work as farm labourers and earn less than HKD$12 a day. Their income is barely enough to support the family of five, let alone pay for Trut’s surgery.

One day, a health worker visited the village and told Trut’s mother Thuyen about a free outreach screening camp supported by The Fred Hollows Foundation. Thuyen said she was determined to take Trut to the camp where she was told that The Foundation could support her surgery at Da Nang Eye Hospital, an eight-hour, 300km drive away.

It was a straightforward and simple operation, and just 24 hours later, the doctor removed Trut’s eye patches. Soon, a shy smile appeared on Trut’s face as she looked up at her relieved mother. Dr Ngoc asked her if she could see her fingers and Trut boldly high fived her hand. It was a moment of pure joy.

③ Three stories of restored sight - Grace


“They were both blind and there was no hope in sight.”

Grace, living in Kenya, was hit in the eye by a rock many years ago, and the trauma caused a blinding cataract in that eye. It left her struggling to provide for her three children.

But the hardest part of her life was knowing that her 7-year-old son Nicholas was blind too.

When Grace found out that The Foundation’s generous supporters would not only cover the cost of Nicholas’ surgery but hers as well, she was overjoyed. .

They travelled for hours to get to the eye hospital. Grace was anxious, but quietly hopeful, hugging Nicholas close and thanking the people who were making her dream come true.

Both of them had their operation on the same day. The next morning, Grace’s patch was removed first, and she patiently waited for Nicholas’ eyepatch to come off.

YOUR MONTHLY DONATION WILL CREATE A GREATER IMPACT:

• A monthly donation of HKD150 can restore sight to one person each month
• A monthly donation of HKD350 can help set up an eye screening camp in a remote area
• A monthly donation of HKD500 can help train a specialist eye nurse

You will receive a special edition lens cloth as a gift when you join our Monthly Giving Plan.

“Teach the teachers first. Then the teachers can teach others”, Fred famously said. 

Professor Fred Hollows knew that training and building the number of surgeons was the key to fighting avoidable blindness. Fred passed on his skills to Professor Sanduk Ruit, who taught the Indonesian ophthalmologist Dr Sriana Wulansari. It was Dr Wulansari who performed Suharni’s surgery.

 

WHAT IMPACT CAN YOUR DONATION BRING?

Blindness and vision impairment is a health issue, and related to a person's well-being, quality of life and development opportunities. The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. Our vision is to build sustainable, good quality and affordable eye care in remote areas of the world. 

Your donation will be used to: 

• Train surgeons or eye health workers 
• Provide medical equipment 
• Organize eye screening camps in remote areas 
• Raise awareness of eye health to the public 
• Invest in innovation and research  

The above work will help build the local capacity of eye health in remote areas. Doctors, nurses and community eye care staff can identify, diagnose, refer and treat various eye diseases on time in the community. The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. Our aim is to build a sustainable eye health workforce in remote areas to help people have their sight restored.