Seeing stripes
In the way that everyone has a favourite sight; people react very differently when they can see again after months or even years in darkness. 70-year-old Tum Sheha from Tanzania said the first thing she did when she returned home after her cataract operation was to find her weaving and count the coloured stripes on her mats! She does traditional Swahili weaving from dried date palm leaves called ‘mkindu’.
Tum’s eyesight had deteriorated over the years, but by 2008 cataract had claimed her vision completely. This meant that the lenses in her eyes had clouded over, and would no longer let light through.
But Tum is lucky enough to live in a part of Zanzibar that is covered by a Sightsavers project run in partnership with Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, which translates as ‘Coconut Tree Hospital’. This hospital serves a population of over a million people, living on the islands of Pemba and Unguja. Sightsavers funding has helped refurbish and fully equip the eye unit there, as well as train eye health staff.
Reaching the whole community
To make sure that as many people as possible are reached and treated for eye problems, there are also 150 primary eye care centres across Zanzibar through this project. This means you can’t go more than five kilometres without coming across one. Our support also extends to outreach clinics to screen and treat eye problems in the community.
Tum’s condition was identified back in 2010. Not being able to see had forced her to give up her weaving, and doing farm work. She couldn’t look after herself and had to rely on her daughter-in-law to take care of her. But she underwent successful cataract surgery on both eyes at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, as hasn’t looked back.
A life changed
“I am very happy and I give thanks for what has happened,” she said. “Now I can see faces again. I am very happy because now I can identify all of my family – my children, my grandchildren, my nieces, my nephews and my husband!”
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