World Sight Day: Godfrey’s dream to play becomes reality

World Sight Day is a time to come together and celebrate the impact of eye care, whilst raising awareness of the difficulties people can face when accessing it. At Orbis, we're working to change this!

This year we're highlighting the importance of prioritising children's eye health and looking to create opportunities for little ones everywhere to have the chance to love their eyes. The global scale of the issue is vast...

Qatar Creating Vision in Zambia

Thanks to the Qatar Creating Vision programme in Zambia, funded by the Qatar Fund for Development, we're working with our partners to focus on delivering eye care to children in the Copperbelt province, which has a population of 2.5 million - 40 % of which is under the age of 15.

With close to half of the district living in rural areas, eye care can be difficult to access. With childhood vision loss, it’s vital that support is provided quickly before permanent damage can occur. A lack of access to eye. care can impact educations and livelihoods, creating a cycle of poverty.

Through this programme, eighteen-month-old Godfrey was able to access a pair of glasses which impacted his life straight away!

Meet Godfrey...

Godfrey was born with nystagmus, a condition that caused rapid, uncontrollable eye movements, leaving him with severely impaired vision. This made it difficult for him to focus, disrupted his balance, and delayed his developmental milestones.

“I was devastated watching my son struggle with his eyes; it stole his playfulness and made him restless,” his mother recalls.

Nystagmus isn't a well known condition in his community, and some children even made fun of Godfrey, which added to his mother’s sadness as she compared his progress to others his age. Desperate, she tried traditional remedies and even methods like bead necklaces, but nothing worked.

Godfrey's Turning Point...

Everything changed when she heard about the eye care services at Kamuchanga District Hospital in Mufulira, through the Qatar Creating Vision project. She finally felt a spark of hope. At the hospital, the ophthalmic staff examined Godfrey and referred him to Kitwe Teaching Eye Hospital for a more in-depth evaluation under anaesthesia. There, doctors recommended special glasses to improve his sight.

Now He's Hitting His Milestones!

Before getting help, Godfrey couldn’t stand or even crawl. But once his vision started improving, he became more active, enjoying the activities other children take for granted. His mother says the improvement in his sight has lifted a cloud of worry that had weighed heavily on their family, bringing great comfort to them all!

“Watching my son walk and play freely fills us with joy,” she says, her face lighting up with pride.

Thank You

We're grateful to the Qatar Fund for Development, who make this work possible. Since our collaboration began in 2015, millions of children and adults have been able to access vital eye health services across Africa and Asia thanks to the Qatar Creating Vision project. Through this project, since work began last year:

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