If there’s a problem with our health, we go to the doctor or the hospital – but imagine if we were blind, and all it took was a minor operation to restore our sight.
Now imagine if we couldn’t afford that minor op, and we were plunged into darkness, unable to see our family or enjoy the simple things in life like watching TV, or going to work. Or what if our children went blind, all because we couldn’t afford that straightforward surgery?
Impossible to imagine, right? So while for us, it couldn’t be more unlikely, for many people - that's adults and children, all over the world it’s the cruel, unfair reality.
By the time 2y/o Baraka comes home from sight-saving surgery in Tanzania, he'll be able to see his favourite auntie's face! #MillionMiracles pic.twitter.com/3rE4jDd8Uu
— Sightsavers Ireland (@SightsaversIE) 22 October 2016
In fact, over 20 million people in the poorest parts of the world are blind due to cataracts, which are easily treated with a 60-minute operation. And perhaps most unfairly, many of them are kids.
Two-year old cutie Baraka, from Tanzania, was one of these children. We say ‘was’, because thanks to Sightsavers – and the generosity of those who donated money to help him – he was able to avail of the op to remove his cataracts and restore his sight.
And of course his mum, Zena Salum Ally, was over the moon, because no matter what country we live in, all mums want the same thing: the very best for their children.
"The first time he looked at me, I felt so happy." Zena cuddles her son Baraka after sight-saving surgery in #Tanzania #MillionMiracles pic.twitter.com/jKo9HXqKoT
— Sightsavers (@Sightsavers) 15 November 2016
While there’s no specific cause of cataracts, there’s no doubt they’re symptomatic of the struggles of living in a developing country – poor diet and sanitation are thought to contribute, while children can be born with the condition or develop it through an eye injury, inflammation or other eye diseases.
For children like Baraka, there is a greater urgency. Having cataracts as a child can mean that their sight is at risk of never properly developing. In all cases surgery needs to happen as soon as possible, and if a child is still affected by cataracts at the age of eight, the chances of vision being improved following surgery decreases dramatically.
"In communities like these, poor #eyehealth contributes to people becoming poor." https://t.co/SltuOvdLTg #MillionMiracles pic.twitter.com/yGrBCgm0AA
— Sightsavers Ireland (@SightsaversIE) 15 November 2016
We often talk about miracles as far away dreams, but we have the REAL power within our clutches, and that is to create these miracles by granting people the miracle of sight. Sightsavers has set a goal to raise enough money over three years to fund one million sight-saving surgeries – or a Million Miracles – for blinding conditions like cataracts.
Just €36 (adult) or €56 (child) can save someone’s sight and transform a life.
For more information on how to make a miracle with Sightsavers pop over to sightsavers.ie.
Baraka and his mum image ©Sightsavers/Julia Gunther
