“If you save the sight of a child, you can change their life”

Dr Nyaluke has been an ophthalmologist for 11 years. Five years ago, after witnessing the urgent need for child eye care specialists in Tanzania, he decided to focus on in paediatric ophthalmology.

“There were very few doctors who specialise to become eye doctors, so I said: ‘Let me go and save these people,’” he explains. Watch the video below to hear his story.

“I found there was a huge gap in paediatrics,” Dr Nyaluke explains. “We have a high number of children yet very few specialists. Cases of avoidable blindness in children were increasing, so I thought we need to join hands and increase our efforts.”

“It is very important to give someone their sight. If you save the sight of a child today, this child is going to live many years with his or her sight, and will become productive, to himself, and to his family.”

“I can say that people who are blind have a tough kind of life. For someone who has no disabilities, life is tough. So for someone who is blind, it is very tough.”

Cataract surgery is a delicate procedure. The patient is prepped and ready for surgery; once they’re in the operating theatre, Dr Nyaluke removes the cloudy lens from the affected eye and inserts the new lens with a syringe. If required, he then repeats this on the other eye.

After a long day of operations and post-surgery check-ups, he is very upbeat and optimistic. “I am feeling great. It was great.”

It’s thanks to people like Dr Nyaluke, and donations from supporters like you, that more and more children are being screened and are undergoing the sight-restoring surgery they need. “The clinic is running very effectively,” he says. “We are seeing 60 to 80 children each week and we are doing operations – this is all thanks to the contribution of Sightsavers.”

This Christmas will your company support a hero like Dr Nyaluke in his commitment to restoring the sight of children? See what your donation could achieve below.