“I’m looking forward to no more pain and no more tears!”

On a blisteringly hot afternoon in a health clinic in Ruangwa, Fatuma is sat outside in a long line of patients awaiting surgery. Her eye looks worse than when we last saw her, but she is still smiling.

Dr Mbilinyi, the district eye coordinator in Nachingwea, will perform Fatuma’s surgery. Incredibly, this intricate procedure only requires a local anaesthetic.

Dr Mbilinyi explains that four eyelashes were stuck onto Fatuma’s eyeball, causing her pain. She also had a lot of corneal scarring – the risk of blindness from scarring is very high, so Fatuma was dangerously close to losing her sight. Damage to her optic nerve from a previous bout of shingles meant a 50 per cent restoration in her right eye would be a good outcome. Thankfully, her left eye looked healthy.

After surgery, Fatuma smiles as she is helped off the rudimentary operating table. “I’m looking forward to no more pain and no more tears!” she tells us, adding how happy and grateful she is for the surgery, as she is led to the recovery room.

The following day, we visit Fatuma at home so the doctor could remove her bandages and give her granddaughter Philly some antibiotics. At this stage, the antibiotics alone will prevent the trachoma infection in Philly’s eyes. Fatuma shows us into her house – it’s small but very tidy. She explains that she keeps it that way so she knows where everything is when she can’t see well enough to find things.

Fatuma tells us that she was in a lot of pain after the anaesthetic wore off. When the doctor takes her bandages off, her eye is still very swollen, but she is delighted: the constant pricking sensation in her eyes had gone. The doctor applies more ointment to Fatuma’s eyes before we have to say our goodbyes. We promise to visit again and Fatuma thanks everyone for the operation.

We visit Fatuma and Philly a month later, to see how they were doing. Fatuma was cheerful and happy to see us. Her vision had improved so much that she could now go street-to-street selling her snacks without difficulty. She looked much more independent and was managing household chores, and her business, with very little help from her family.

Little Philly was all smiles throughout our visit; she loved picking up mangoes that fell from a nearby tree. The doctor examined her and told us she was doing fine – her eyes looked white and healthy. Her father couldn’t stop thanking us for the treatment she’d received.

We will never forget those two beautiful smiles. We’re so grateful to Fatuma and Philly for sharing their story.

Incredible stories like Fatuma’s are only possible because of donations from Sightsavers supporters. Your life-changing gifts can help pay for medicines and surgery in some of the poorest parts of the world. Thank you.