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Newsletter, July - September 2016
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Sabita Makal lives alone in her small dwelling at the Santinagar slums in Kolkata. She is 62 years old. She lost her husband a very long time ago and has since brought up her children herself. Both her son and daughter are now married and stay separately. Sabita's daughter visits her sometimes and gives her small amounts of money to manage the daily expenses.
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Staying in the slums itself is a challenge. When Sabita was around 55 years of age, she developed poor vision. This made even routine tasks difficult and daily life became unbearable. Sabita's son was a daily wage worker and couldn't afford to help his mother get the required medical treatment. She became more and more depressed at her situation. Each day she prayed that she would get her vision back.
Sabita's prayers were heeded as her son was informed by an acquaintance about the MFV run Vision Centre in the Kolkata Urban Slums. At the centre, Sabita was diagnosed with cataracts in both her eyes and recommended surgery. She was taken to the Aditya Birla Sankara Netralaya for her eye operations. Sabita regained her vision and couldn't be more thankful to God and to the programme that enabled her to see again.
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Narasimaiah is a 72 year old man living in Ramnagar district of Karnataka. He has worked as an agricultural labourer since he was a young boy and due to his advanced age, had stopped working. Two years ago, he developed cataracts in his eyes which clouded his vision and affected his day-to-day functioning. He could not recognise objects or people’s faces even if they were at a short distance from him.
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His condition was worsened by the fact that his family members were not supportive, and instead, rebuked him for his dependency on them. They were not concerned enough to even take him to a doctor to get his eyes checked. Narasimaiah was physically and mentally troubled and quite helpless.
Fortunately, his grandson came across a free eye camp organised by Sankara Eye Hospital and decided to take his grandfather to the camp. Narasimaiah attended the camp with the help of his grandson, where he was diagnosed with cataracts in his eyes. He was immediately sent to the main hospital in Bangalore for surgery.
Post the surgery, Narasimaiah's vision was restored and he has been able to independently manage all his work. He is happy to be no longer dependent on his family.
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13 year old Sumbul lives with her parents in Meerut district along with her siblings and extended family members. She is a student of class IX in the local government school.
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Sumbul had an eye condition in her left eye where the upper eyelid drooped, also known as ptosis. Her family did not know that it was curable. Even though they resided within an hour’s journey from Meerut city, they hadn't taken Sumbul for an eye check. In December 2015, a vision screening camp was organized in the village by MFV's partner, Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH) as part of the Mission Roshni project supported by us. Sumbul's father took her to the camp where her eyes were examined by an optometrist who referred her to the vision centre in Sardhana for a more comprehensive eye examination.
At the vision centre, she was recommended to undergo surgery. The doctor assured her that post-surgery her left eye would look as normal as her right eye. Sumbul was taken to Meerut for her surgery where her left eye was restored to its normal shape.
Post-surgery her father said “Yeh project hamare liye dua bankar aaya hai. Khuda ka shukar hai meri beti ki aankh thik ho gayi”
(This project has come as a blessing for us. By God’s grace my daughter’s eyes are alright now).
Sumbul too was all smiles. She said that earlier her friends used to tease her and call her names. But, now they tease her as a fashion icon, due to the smart pair of spectacles she wears. Sumbul doesn't mind that at all and her family too is happy for her.
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