He’s had a busy week on his motorbike, driving around ten villages in the rural district around the capital.  The ambulance brought back 12 patients, 10 of whom were offered surgery.

Mrs Kalembo had come to Nkhoma a few weeks earlier.

Mrs Kalembo in the village, before coming to Nkhoma

Mrs Kalembo stays with one of her 5 grandchildren, and she said her main job was looking after her grandchild.  She told Isabelle that she had nine children, only 6 of whom are still alive.

Luckily her grandchild could stay with friends while Mrs Kalembo came to Nkhoma for the 4 days she was with us.  She said she had low vision since last year.

Meanwhile back in the village some 5 weeks after both her cataracts were operated, she was back with her friends and grandchild.

And the whole family of village friends

John Kapakasa is in the back, on the right.  Mrs Kalembo’s grandson has a lot of young friends!  She said after the surgery she is now completely mobile again, and doesn’t need a walking stick anymore.

The smile says it all

I need to get out more often.  I don’t really get out of the hospital much during the day.  Mr Kambewa and I are in theatre for the day after we and the staff finish the clinic in the mornings.  Sure John and the other cataract case-finders live on their motorbikes riding around the villages looking for people like Mrs Kalembo who need assistance.  Some of the staff at Nkhoma head out on mobile clinics to screen people in villages during the week.  But I generally stay around Nkhoma Hospital, seeing people that are brought in.

It is really great to see Mrs Kalembo back in her village, with her friends and family; happy after surgery.  Rather than just picture her in the hospital.

Her smile says it all

In fact this is our busiest time of year.  We are sending our ambulances out to the south lakeshore.  A 4 hour 300 kilometre drive to do Wednesday and Saturday mobile clinics.  There is a great number of blind and severely visually impaired people in this area.

Mr Nyadani, in the village before coming to Nkhoma

Mr Nyadani was not blind, but couldn’t see his family and was failing to do much of the work on his farm and at home for the past two years.

Our wonderful mobile clinic team, and Isabelle the fantastic optometrist volunteer from Luxembourg met Mr Nyadani a few weeks ago.  He was diagnosed with cataracts and came in the ambulance to Nkhoma.

Mr Kambewa, Nkhoma Cataract Surgeon, operated both his eyes successfully, and after 4 days he was taken back to his home and family, with a great improvement in his vision.

4 weeks later we went back to his village and met him again.

Mr Nyadani, happily back with his family

It is quite amazing to have had the chance to visit his family and village a few weeks after his operation to restore his sight.  He was very happy in the hospital just before going home, but seeing him with his family at his home showed us the great happiness that he felt.

The power of one operation to restore one man’s vision was in the faces of his children and grandchildren, and of course in Mr Nyadani’s smile.  The power lay in his ability to return to work, and his happiness in taking back his full role in the close family and community.

We are coming very close to the day when 10 million cataract operations would have been carried out by CBM over the past 100 years.  I find that incredible;  that so many people, and also their families and communities have been given back their right to sight.