Bringing Life-Changing Treatments to the Blind in India | National Geographic

The world is invisible to the blind people, but at the same time, the blind people withdraw themselves from the surrounding, and they make them invisible. Unless the people who are cited actively try to find them out, they will remain in the dark.

[Music] My first visit to Sundaran was with one great missionary. We traveled to an island; there was a small medical clinic. At the end of the day, he said, "Did you see how people are suffering here?" He just ignited my feeling.

My first introduction to blindness was my grandfather's. I used to sit beside him on his bed, and he used to put his hand on my head, on my shoulder, and try to feel how much I have grown up. He couldn't see me, but he could feel me. My grandfather is still with me. Whenever I treat a blind patient with the Cataract, his face comes in my mind. So maybe that was subconsciously in my mind, and that pulled me in the field of high.

[Music] Care for e. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] We came to this island to work in an organized way, 2 to 3 years back. Initially, people were not trusting us. Take the case of Muhammad; he went to a qu, and now Muhammad is totally blind. It's irreversible. Had there been a vision center, Muhammad could have gone to the vision center. That process could have saved Muhammad's [Music] eyes.

[Music] [Music] For there are many people affected by bilateral cataract at a very younger age. We call it hereditary cataract. Just think of Nasma; Nasma's mother also had the same situation. She couldn't afford treatment because of poverty, and she gave birth to five children. Out of five children, four had similar [Music] [Music] condition.

[Music] [Music] For when they become adolescent, the added fear is the sexual harassment. The girls always confine themselves inside the house; they don't go out.

[Music] [Music] There's a saying that when Muhammad doesn't come to the mountain, the mountain goes to Muhammad. Same is true for eye care. In remote communities, they collect the patients from the different islands by boat and by bus. They take them to the base hospital; the surgery is done, and they are sent back to their villages. The follow-up is done at primary care centers.

So that's the network now operating. We are recruiting more and more people from the island to train them up, expand the services. That way, we foresee that the network will spread, and people will access the service. That will create positive eye health-seeking behavior among the people of the [Music] island.

I was very moved by watching the life of Nasma. When they were going home, Nazma's father said, "Doctor, in the last 2 days, Nasma has become too naughty." He was very happy to say so, and I was happy to hear as well.

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