SBHCT In Association with Mission for Vision

This is a story of Mr. Mahesh Kumar. He is 47 years old and very much in his productive employable age, thus the onset of cataract hit him and his work hard. The problem started since last few months and his family of seven started suffering because of the dwindling income.

A tailor by profession and into the work of stitching sacks, he lives with his wife & children in a rented room at Bakarganj area of Kanpur Nagar District. Whatever income he earns from the profession he spends on his family. The problem of poor vision in his eyes was giving him difficult time. As he was not able to concentrate on his profession because of poor vision, few of his friends started teasing him too. The financial and social trauma was growing with each passing day. With the help of family members, he got his eyes checked in a local hospital where Mr. Mahesh Kumar was diagnosed with cataract in both his eyes. Fear of completely losing vision was giving some nightmares to Mr. Mahesh. He spent all his savings for the upbringing of children so he could not afford treatment at private hospital.

One-day Mr. Mahesh came to know about free eye check-up camp of Sankara Eye Hospital, Kanpur in the nearby area. He decided to go for the camp and cataract diagnosis was confirmed by the team for both the eyes. At the campsite he was properly counselled about his eye problem. He was thoroughly explained about the procedure in detail which helped release his anxiety. He was operated for cataract successfully and today Mr. Mahesh has regained his vision and is a very happy person. His Left Eye vision has improved from 6/36(pre-operative to 6/9 (post-operative). He is back to the work with much more confidence than before. He started earning for his family again and is planning for his right eye surgery soon.

Early one morning when Dandasi Tadingi was walking to his field, a small pair of eyes were looking at him from the ground ahead. Unfortunately for him, his cataract covered eyes could not see the snake whose eyes were looking at him and continued walking. And after he fell down in agony when the poisonous reptile bit him, he sat on the ground wondered what his life had become and future would be.

Dandasi was a resident of Madanpur, a small village in Rayagada. Most of the people in this village without electricity worked as farmers. Dandasi too was a farmer and lived in a tiny house with his wife, 3 children and sister. His extended family comprised of 4 buffaloes and 2 cows. He was the sole bread winner and had the responsibility of feeding all these mouths. Yet by the standards of this poor village he was still well off, as he owned some fertile land.

Luckily, he recovered soon from the snake bite. But that did not improve his lot much. He had been suffering from poor vision for the past few years. After the incident he stopped going out early in the morning and only travelled outside and returned back when it was bright, avoiding dawn; dusk and dark. This affected his income. He could not see well and had great difficulty in seeing small things. He had trouble looking after himself and carrying out daily household activities. The low vision disrupted both his livelihood and social life. Even his family members were greatly distressed by his condition. His poor financial background prohibited him from seeking treatment at any of the city hospitals.

One day a vehicle from LVPEI arrived at his village for cataract screening. Fortunately, Mr Dandashi met with the community staff, who advised him to come to the hospital for free cataract surgery. He agreed and reported at the base hospital for surgery.