The misery of blindness

Article written by George Ohito, Cataract Surgeon, Kwale District Eye Centre

Magongo Omar Teitei retired from the civil service five years ago. He was fifty-five. Still strong and healthy, he bought some cows and planted crops to feed his family. He enjoyed his work, putting to use the skills he had learnt with the Ministry of Agriculture.

All his six children were grown up. Magongo cherished the time he spent with his animals and grandchildren. However, a year ago, life changed as he slowly became completely blind. "Old age", he thought, no longer able to recognise familiar faces- even that of his wife of thirty-seven years nor the colours on the furs and skins of his beloved animals.

He became very depressed, dependent on his grandchildren for everything, even suffering the indignity of having to be taken to the bathroom. Magongo stopped eating and kept to himself indoors as much as he could. He was plagued by ugly thoughts, believing that everyone wanted to harm him and his property. He became frightened of every little noise around him.

He often wondered why he had been bewitched in this way. He begged his sons to take him to an eye hospital, but they flatly refused. However, his brother-in-law visited and instantly realized that Magongo was totally blind.

He organised transport and took him to KDEC where our surgeon George Ohito asked why he had not come for help earlier.

"Oh, I can't explain. You know one day you are a healthy old man dishing out pearls of wisdom to those around you, the next they think you are an invalid with no mind of your own, only in need of their sympathy."

Above left - Magongo before his operation and right a transformed Magongo after his operation

He had cataracts; cloudiness of the lens, in both eyes. After surgery he was shown photos taken of him being blind and being led to the examination; he recognised his son and brother-in-law. He also saw a stranger in clothes similar to his own shirt and half coat. It was only after close scrutiny that he realised he was looking at his own picture. It was a different man from the one he last saw, who had weighed almost ninety kilos a year ago.

"What did you miss seeing most during the time you were blind", I teased him.
"My wives and grandchildren, they are my world".

Cataracts are treatable by surgery which takes fifteen minutes to perform. Magongo has vowed to search for all blind men and women in his village and personally bring them to Kwale District Eye Centre for treatment.

No one should remain needlessly blind from cataract when there is treatment available.

Fundraising reaches new heights

Africa's highest mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft : 5895 m) in Tanzania and close to the border with Kenya presents a challenge to many climbers.

Amongst those who successfully reached the summit in 2004 was Rick Ashley as proved in the photograph. Rick (left) and his fellow climbers Matt and Gideon the guide arrived at the top in freezing conditions described by the local guides as the worst weather they could recall.

The reason for the climb was to raise money to allow the Kwale District Eye Centre to save sight. Rick later confessed to Dr Helen that he would not have found the will to complete the challenge had it not been for the thought of all the money that would have been lost.

His efforts were not in vain and sponsorship to date has raised around the equivalent of USD 15,000.

We would like to thank all donors for their generosity, and in particular to acknowledge those people who made donations without providing a contact address to which we could send a formal 'thank you'.

Rick Ashley replies:

"My thoughts at the top ? Complete exhaustion and complete elation; oh and a bit cold! It was a great feeling of achievement given the conditions, but frustrating and confusing that it seemed so difficult to put one foot in front of another to get from rim to Uhuru Peak. A real rush of energy, adrenalin etc on first reaching summit, jumping up and down and kicking the snow about, but quickly replaced by tiredness - as if the rush just used up the last bit of energy you had. And then we had to scramble all the way back down to base camp. That was exhaustion all the way until elation at realising you were back at camp and could lie down, at least for 30min or an hour before setting off again! Five hours more walking, and that night back at 3000m, you found out again how deeply you could sleep many years ago!"

Annual Kenya Offshore Fishing Competition - Eye Go Fishing

The annual Eye Go Fishing competition took place on 20th-21st November off the North Kenya Coast with 18 boats setting out to sea in the early hours of Sunday morning. They returned to the Mooring in the afternoon to weigh in their catch and celebrate raising Ksh188,700 (around USD 2,500) from the event. This sum will benefit the patients attending Kwale District Eye Centre.

In the picture on the right we see the team of the winning boat, "Vuma" Margaret Morby, Bobbie Murphy, Johnno Beakbane and Robbie Taylor proudly displaying the Eye Go Fishing Trophy.

On behalf of those who will benefit by receiving eye treatment, Kwale District Eye Centre would like to thank not only all those who participated in the event but our many other supporters worldwide.

World Sight Day event in Kenya nearly rained off!

World Sight Day was celebrated on 14th October at Kwale District Eye Centre. This a day which is set aside internationally to create awareness about the scale of worldwide blindness. Making people aware is the first step in addressing this problem.

The event was almost rained off. Driving rain went on for hours and the site which was set up with tents to protect people from the sun was useless. The event actually decamped to a disused fire station where undampened spirits were cheered by the blind band, a theatre group and songs from schools about blindness and how important it is not to exclude people who are blind from society.

In the picture above right, we see one of the local primary schools performing a song and dance about a child who was born blind and was able to see after treatment. Then it becomes a celebration of her enjoyment of the sighted world.

Dr Stefan Vogel visits the Eye Centre

Dr. Helen Roberts writes: For five years Dr Stefan Vogel has been visiting us from Germany for 3 weeks. Dr Stefan worked in Nairobi training ophthalmologists on a programme between Munich and Nairobi University. Most Kenyan ophthalmologists now in practice refer to him as 'my teacher'. He has returned to Germany to live, but visits each year to help us at Kwale District Eye Centre for three weeks. His ticket is paid by the German Prevention of Blindness Committee.

This year the emphasis was on training using the phacoemulsification machine donated to us by CBM (Christoffel Blindenmission International). The machine enables us to offer state of the art cataract surgery with a smaller entrance wound, ideally a lens implant which folds so that one can get in through the smaller incision and hence faster, resulting in better healing of the eye after surgery.

Our many thanks to Dr Vogel, we look forward to seeing him next year.

Dr.H.E. Roberts
MBE MBChB MRCOphth FRCOphth
Medical Director, Kwale District Eye Centre

Above - Dr Stefan Vogel at Kwale Eye Centre

UK - Sponsored spar by Islington Boys Boxing Club raises funds

Above - Geraldine and Peter Wooton

Alice's Party raises funds in the UK

At a recent Fancy Dress and Magical party held to celebrate her 4th birthday, Alice Dodds raised £300 (approx USD 550) for EFEA (UK). Alice has twice been on holiday to Kenya with her family, who have been regular supporters of Kwale District Eye Centre (KDEC) for many years, and she understands that not everyone in Kenya is as fortunate as herself.

Alice wanted to invite over 40 of her friends and pre-school classmates to the birthday party. With this in mind, her parents Simon and Abigail Dodds, suggested that a request be made on the invitation asking for a donation to EFEA (UK) in preference to a gift. Alice thought this was a great idea as she knew she would receive lots of birthday presents from her family and close friends.

The day was a great success and everyone had a fun time. Many parents said that it was a good idea to make a charity donation instead of bringing a gift for the birthday child. Alice had the party with her friends, and at the same time, she was able to help some poor children in Kenya with eye problems.

In recognition of the donation, she was presented with a certificate signed by Dr Helen Roberts MBE, Medical Director KDEC, thanking her for this novel fundraising event.

Rama's Story

Rama (right) has Down's syndrome and was born blind due to cataract. When he was five months old his mother brought him to our community based worker, who was visiting the village.

Rama had cataract surgery and could see for the first time in his life. He was able to recognise his mother's face at last and to smile back at her. Eventually, after he was a year old, he was able to reach for small objects when our low vision therapist tested him. 

Rama, his family and our low vision therapist have a lot of work still to do though. Despite being 18 months old, Rama cannot yet walk but he is crawling faster and faster as he chases after the things that he can see. Rama loves gazing at things and is very inquisitive. The community are no longer feeling sorry for Rama's mother because she has a blind child. Her child, despite his disadvantages, brings great joy and also the message that there is often hope and help to be found at hand.