By W, KNA
Health experts say that children need specific eye exams at age six months, then at age three and at school entry.
But this is never taken at heart and followed through due to challenges that have been exacerbated by poverty, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of care workers involved at promoting regular eye screening in schools and even within communities
Three years ago, Dzeha Jira was excited to start school, but that same year he was sent home because he was struggling to see.
Accessing health facilities and other essential services is difficult. Walking is the family’s only option, and it takes hours to negotiate narrow dirt tracks through thick and thorny bushes.
The 7-year-old has now missed three years of school and spends his time playing with his younger sister, Luvuno, on a remote patch of land in Kenya’s Kwale County.
Jira is guided by his sister Luvuno around his darkening world; he cannot go anywhere and spends much of his day sitting around and making marbles and cars from the clay he makes from water and dirt.
His vision has continued to worsen, and the family cannot afford any further treatment.
With nine children to look after, while her husband walks to the city of Mombasa to sell produce, Fatima Musinda’s days are dedicated to keeping the family from going hungry.
“When I wake up, my work is to fend for my children and cook for the household and with the little we get, usually maize milk, local vegetables and occasionally dried fish from the market, we live a day at a time,” she says
Her hope, though, is that if Jira can only manage to go to school, maybe their struggles might be minimal.
When Jira was born, his mother, Fatima, noticed a yellow colour in his eyes.
She walked about five hours to the nearest hospital, where Jira was given medication for jaundice; however, as time moved on, financial and transport barriers prevented Jira from receiving the help he needed.
Support by the Fred Hollows Foundation could not have come at a better time, as Jira, a while back, was found by Kwale Eye Unit community health worker Robert Ngome during an outreach.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is a non-profit aid organization, which was founded in 1992 by eye surgeon Fred Hollows and focuses on treating and preventing blindness and other vision problems in people and communities
Ngome says most children in the community are not able to visit the eye unit in Kwale because of money, as most of them are small-scale farmers, and the little they get goes to food and paying fees.
The Foundation and Kwale Eye Unit arranged for Jira to be screened and scheduled for cataract surgery, and at Kwale Eye Unit, Fatima was just smiling in anticipation as Dr. Lilian Nyaboga prepared to remove Jira’s patches after the surgery.
When the first patch was removed, Jira reached for Dr. Nyaboga’s identification pass and examination and became excited.
“I will start going to school because I can see,” he said.
His mother is relieved. “I am now at peace because my son can see. I want him to go back to school and learn with the other children. I expect my life to be a bit easier now, unlike before when I had to carry Jira on my back anywhere I went. Now I can leave him on his own and do my work as he continues playing without any difficulties.”
Fatima and her son Jiras’s story is that of resilience, ability to adapt and recover from adversity, overcome obstacles and bounce back.
On World Sight Day, marked today, we are reminded that vision is not just about seeing; it is about living fully, and everyone deserves the chance to experience the world in all its clarity.
Nearly everyone on the planet will experience an eye health issue in their lifetime, yet over a billion people still lack access to the services and treatments they need.
The theme for World Sight Day 2025. “Love Your Eyes,” encourages everyone to make eye care a part of their daily lives and to advocate for accessible, affordable, and available eye health for all.
The theme highlights that over a billion people live with vision loss that could be prevented or treated, but they lack access to necessary care.
