Sudip

Sudip smiling with a patch over one of his eyes

“I like to go to school but I cannot read the letters on the blackboard… I want to study and become a police officer.”

5-year-old Sudip loves to play and explore but when he started losing his sight because of cataracts, he struggled to get around. Unable to afford the sight-restoring cataract surgery that Sudip needed, his family were desperately worried about their little boy’s future… until they heard about CBM’s partner hospital.

Sudip lives with his parents and three siblings in a remote village of Ilam district, about 600 kilometres east of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. 

Sudip wasn’t born with sight problems. “One day Sudip told me that he couldn’t see things properly during sunlight. He would squint and try to see from the corner of his eyes. I didn’t know what to do.” explains his mother, Nirmala.

At age 4 his vision started deteriorating and within a few months, he couldn’t walk without assistance or see the letters on the school blackboard. Sudip’s father would carry him to school every morning, but he couldn’t keep doing this as he needed to go out to work and earn money to support the family. Instead, Sudip walked an hour to school, with his sister holding his hand and guiding him.

 “I didn’t know what to do”, his mother Nirmala told us. “I thought of taking him to the district hospital in Ilam Bazaar. But some relatives told me that eye treatment can be expensive,” explained his father, Sher.

“Sometimes Sudip would come home from school and tell me, “Mama, please treat my eyes soon. I cannot see things properly. My friends tease me all the time. They don’t let me play with them.”

Thankfully, community worker Parshuram, who works for CBM’s partner hospital Biratnagar Eye Hospital (BEH), heard about Sudip’s sight problems from his teacher.

An eye examination revealed that Sudip has cataracts in both eyes. Sudip was referred for sight-saving surgery.

The morning after surgery, Sudip’s eye patch was removed. Sudip cautiously opens his right eye, “I can see your face so clearly, papa!” he exclaims. “My eyes are healed! I can see so many things around me!” he adds, hugging his father.

Thanks to the generosity of CBM’s supporters, Sudip is now thriving at school, with his new glasses.

Sudip smiling with his glasses on and a pencil in his handSudip smiling with his glasses on and writing his letters on a whiteboard
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