Restoring sight changes lives and you can make it happen
Imagine having to care for two small children who were both going blind. Imagine starting to lose your own sight while you cared for your children alone. It might be hard to imagine how scary this would be. But this was the harsh reality facing Porlee – a single father and the sole carer to his children, Shoua and Blong. Seven year-old Shoua and her four year-old brother, Blong, were both born with cataract. There was hardly any joy in their young lives and their future didn’t look too bright – they weren’t going to school, they had no friends to play with and would spend all day at home, dependent on their father for everything. As a farmer in a remote village in Laos, Porlee was worried about how he would care for his children. To make matters worse, he started losing his sight as well. Porlee was lucky that he was able to take his children to a Fred Hollows Foundation sponsored mobile eye clinic that visited the remote areas of Laos. Supporters like you stepped up and provided the helping hand that made it possible for Porlee, Shou and Blong to access this clinic and to ultimately get their sight restored. And watching their smiling faces light up the room as their patches were removed is better than anything you could ask for.
Will you help us reach more people like Shoua, Blong and Porlee with the extraordinary gift of sight today?
A mobile eye clinic supported by The Fred Hollows Foundation allowed Porlee, Shoua and Blong to get proper diagnosis and referral needed for cataract surgery. Thanks to people like you, this family now has hope for a better future.
The leading cause of blindness in Laos is cataract and there are 35,000 people who are blind. The heartbreaking thing is that 9 out of 10 of them don’t have to be blind. But the lack of resources and skilled health workers means they can’t get help.
More than half the people in Laos live in rural areas and one in four people lives in poverty. This makes it next to impossible for many people to access basic health care. But you can help us reach them.
If left untreated for long, diseases like cataract can cause permanent blindness, especially in children. But you can help us get to people sooner with your donation – not just to restore their sight but also to restore their hope for a better future.
This is the content within the modal window.
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
Your donation will help train local eye health workers as well as fund more eye screenings and clinics in rural and remote locations. Without you, people like Porlee, Shoua and Blong will go blind.
When Dr Phetsamone was a boy, he looked after his grandmother who was blind for 40 years. Seeing her struggle inspired him to become a doctor, and eventally an ophthalmologist. Dr Phetsamone is the first ophthalmologist trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation in Laos. Dr Phetsamone said he is anxious every time he removes the eye patches from a patient, no matter how many surgeries he performs.
And restore sight to up to 1,000 people every year