A Fresh Start In Nigeria

A strong smoky sensation hits me as soon as I step out of the plane at Abuja airport on the first day of a trip to visit some of the life-changing work that Sightsavers is supporting in Nigeria. Sightsavers’ project officer Marthe explains that this is dust created by the Harmattan, cool dry winds that blow from the desert giving relief from the humidity that affects Nigeria most of the year. People living in dry and dusty areas, with limited access to clean water, are at risk of contracting the painful bacterial eye condition trachoma. When I meet six-year-old Ibrahim, he’s washing his face to prevent infection, as he’s been taught by community health workers who work in his village in Sokoto State.

Preventing the spread of infection

It’s really important to prevent trachoma as it is very painful and can lead to blindness, so everyone in Ibrahim’s village also receives the antibiotic drug tetracycline, which is used to stop the spread of infections. Of course, not all eye conditions can be prevented and the operating environment in many of the places where Sightsavers works can be very different. Ahmed Danbaba, an ophthalmic nurse at Zaria eye clinic in Kaduna State, explains that part of his training was in Ghana and The Gambia where he witnessed eye health programmes taking place. He says: “We look at systems and techniques that work and bring some of them here. For example, the system of trachoma control has now been implemented here, but we can’t implement the same cataract control programme because the operating environment in Nigeria is very different as it is such a large country.” One in every five people in Sub-Saharan Africa is Nigerian, making it the most populous country on the continent. About 750,000 people are unnecessarily blind with cataract in Nigeria, and a further 200,000 become blind each year, so the country has a desperate need for additional investment in eye health.

Meeting Rukayya

I first meet Rukayya Ibrahim when she is waiting patiently in the hallway for her turn in theatre. Rukayya, who is clearly very elderly, announces to me: “I am 17 years old.” It’s great to see that she hasn’t lost her sense of humour, as life has been tough on Rukayya since she lost her sight to cataract two years ago: “When I could see I was active and able to go anywhere I wanted. Now I can’t move anywhere without bumping into things, so I stay in one room.” After surgery Rukayya’s daughter Daiba and her baby Mohammad stay with her overnight. After her bandages come off, Rukayya, who has not seen her grandson before, watches him in awe and takes a few minutes before she can talk. Dr Muazu, who leads the medical team at the eye clinic, tests Rukayya’s vision and gives her something to stop her feeling uncomfortable. He explains that she will need to take eye drops to help improve her vision further and come back for post-operative care to ensure that she gets the best result possible. Once her eye has recovered she can return to the clinic for surgery on her other eye. It’s lovely to see Dr Muazu and his team at work, taking so much care over each patient, especially considering that they see over 3,000 eye cases every month, performing around 60 eye surgeries.

Returning home

We follow Rukayya and her family back home to Chikaji, a poor suburb of Zaria, where we are greeted by Rukayya’s son Tijani, along with many of her other nine children, 32 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Tijani tells us: “Blindness affected my mother in many ways. We had to call people to help her all the time and she’s been in a lot of discomfort and stress. She hasn’t seen any of her grandchildren who were born since she went blind.” In her home, Rukayya is delighted to greet various grandchildren for the first time as they are passed to her. She has had a very exciting 24 hours so we leave the family to celebrate her return.

Meeting Fatimoh

When I meet Fatimoh Jimoh at her home in Kwara State, she is also recovering from cataract surgery, received through the Kwara State Eye Care Programme. Since it launched in 2004, this work has been supported by ‘Seeing is Believing’, the global community investment programme of the emerging markets bank, Standard Chartered. Thanks to ‘Seeing is Believing’, each year in Kwara State over 2,700 people benefit from sight-restoring eye treatments and over 875,000 people living at risk of river blindness are receiving the medication they need to keep them safe. After nearly three years of being completely blind, Fatimoh is enjoying living independently. She looks proud as she sits outside her home feeding her goats, watched on by her 18-year-old daughter, Musili. Fatimoh explains that now she can see again she wants to return to her work, trading local food in her community, so she can contribute to the household. What I find amazing to witness is the impact of our work on the individuals who have had their sight restored, because each number in our statistics represents a life that Sightsavers, its partners and all our supporters have helped to change for the better.Source: http://www.sightsavers.org