When a flight saves someone’s sight
In the rural districts of Tanzania’s Tabora region, medical care is lacking – eye specialists above all. For those affected this often means needless blindness, even though a simple operation could restore their sight.
One person who sees this gap in care every day is Dr Amos Mahona: “Our patients sometimes travel 200 kilometres just to get here,” he says. “And once they are here, we have to tell them we cannot help them.” Dr Amos Mahona is the senior doctor at St John Paul II Hospital, which lies in one of these rural districts in Tabora. “That hurts, because this hospital was built to help the poor. But we have no eye specialists.”
Thanks to MAF there is hope for the people of this region. For the first time, Tanzanian eye surgeon Dr Erick Msigomba and his team could be flown from Njombe to Tabora to carry out eye operations. “Often these are simple cataracts,” the eye specialist explains, “and that is not total blindness. With a little help we can restore their sight.”
In just a few days, Dr Msigomba’s team examined 200 patients and carried out 60 cataract operations. Among them was Rozalia Masanja Mayung, who had lost her sight two years earlier. She could no longer look after herself. “My children told me that doctors were coming. I decided to take this opportunity. I was so excited about it.” After the operation Rozalia is overwhelmed: “They removed something like a veil from my eyes.” Now she can walk, cook and eat on her own again – and no longer has to beg.
Travelling overland would have been unthinkable for Dr Msigomba. Two full days on dusty tracks would have put his delicate instruments at risk. The eye surgeon is grateful: “But MAF got me and all our equipment safely to our destination.” Despite the success of this trip, Dr Msigomba knows that many people are still waiting for help. Stewart Ayling, MAF Country Director in Tanzania, agrees. “Having seen the impact of this work, our whole team is motivated to make sure this camp is the first of many.”
