Dorothy
| Country: | Malawi |
| Category: | Saving sight |
“I used to have a feeling that if my problem got worse, I’d have to completely depend on my children. That fear was always there.”
The 71-year-old grandmother had been blind from cataracts for three years. But thanks to CBM’s supporters, this all changed for Dorothy when she was identified by a CBM outreach worker.
“The eye problem started three years ago, when a cloudy thing started to cover my eyes. My children told me they could see something covering my eyes.”
Dorothy used to run a small fruit and vegetable stall from her veranda and care for her grandchildren in her spare time, but as she started to lose her sight, she became unable to do anything on her own.
“It’s painful to me because I feel like a burden. It was one of my greatest fears, and now it’s come true,” she said.
Dorothy had heard of a cataract team from the Nkhoma Hospital Eye Department, supported by CBM UK, visiting the local Nkhotakota District Hospital before, but she got the news too late.
This time, when she heard the advertisement on the radio that the team from Nkhoma was coming again, Dorothy knew she had to act.
But there was a problem, Dorothy had no way of getting to the hospital. Her daughter was worried that something bad would happen if she went ahead with the surgery. So Dorothy asked her granddaughter instead.
Within hours of arriving at the hospital, Dorothy had already been screened, operated, and was recovering in the ward, her granddaughter still at her side.
“God is always there and he is able to do wonders in my life. I’m excited. No worries. No fear. I am just excited to see what will happen.”
After Dorothy’s bandages were removed, she stood up and walked through the maze of people in the cramped room unaided.
“Sight has changed her life. From blindness to sight in just 40 minutes. She stood up and walked out on her own,” observes Precious, the Ophthalmic Clinical Officer.
That afternoon, Dorothy was back home, seated on her veranda, welcoming a steady stream of visitors.
“People are coming by to see how my vision has been restored and the grandchildren can’t believe it. I feel like I’ve been given another life! I may be aging, but with my sight back I can live a normal life despite being old.”
In 2020, our generous supporters donated an amazing £1,320,921 towards our See the Way appeal.