“I know their future is going to be bright”

Children like Mobwin, who have vision problems, are treated by Mr Phiri, an ophthalmic doctor working in Zambia.

“I work at Petauke District Hospital in the eastern province, where I do cataract surgeries. I have a passion for eyes because there used to be no eye health staff working in this district. Because of this, I was sent to go and train in that field.

“For children, we have different types of cataracts. It can be congenital and they are born with it. Or it can develop from trauma such as being hit by stones or a ball. We call it ‘cataract extraction’: we remove the cataract within the lens, clean it with the drip and replace it with an artificial lens.

“The next day, we remove the bandage. For healing, we ask the patient to avoid difficult work and activities.”

Emmanuel and Mobwin’s operations were funded as part of Sightsavers’ inclusive eye health project. As well as carrying out eye operations, the project is sharing information about cataracts across the province.

Mr Phiri says: “There have been great improvements in the province. We go into the community and tell them how cataracts can develop. We have been meeting all the chiefs to show them the importance of cataracts. We have now trained more women than men as cataracts finders in the communities. They send a list to us, and we go check them.

“The distance is very far [to reach some communities]. It has been difficult, and we use motorbikes to go into the jungle, which is also risky. We also need security and are not well supported for the distant places we tackle.”