From darkness to light: transforming lives through eye surgeries in Moyale
MAF is crucial in transporting eye specialists from Kenya’s capital Nairobi, to Moyale to offer life changing surgeries.
Omar (not his real name) * is overjoyed after his sight was restored following four years of vision loss during which he had to rely entirely on his son.
The 63-year-old praised the surgeons and organisers of the camp, saying, “I am a happy man now. I was in the dark for over four years, but now I see. My son helped me reach the camp yesterday, and I thank the Almighty and the surgeons for restoring my sight.” Without their efforts, his life would have remained in darkness.
MAF pilot Daniel Loewen-Rudgers flew the eye specialists’ team to Moyale for a five-day camp where they performed 235 sight restoring surgeries, 228 of which were for cataracts.
Cataract cases are still on the rise, but the Fred Hollows Foundation is committed to eliminating these cases by offering free surgeries. This effort is essential because there are no medical facilities equipped to address these eye conditions.
Omar explained that he could now carry out different activities unguided, sharing that simply saying thank you was not enough for expressing his gratitude for having his sight restored.
Hon. Grace Galmo, the County Executive Committee Member for Health (CECM), was also present at the camp and expressed her gratitude for the support her community received in addressing the issue of cataracts. She added that she looks forward to the day when the backlog of blind people will be reduced to reasonable levels.
Elsie Sang from the Fred Hollows Foundation expressed her gratitude to MAF for providing flights. She said, “The MAF flights are essential for getting the medical team to the ground and saving significant time compared to road travel.”
The MAF flight from Nairobi to Moyale takes approximately 2.6 hours, whereas traveling by road takes over 10 hours.