05/07/2008
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Charity Case Studies - Writing & Photography SkillsCase study for blindness charity ORBISEthiopia, May 2005 Words and Photography by Tine Frank “I can’t explain to you what it is like to be blind. It is the most terrible, the most difficult thing ever and it is difficult to explain it to someone who doesn’t know. If you’ve never been blind you can never know the pain it brings. I just can’t explain how terrible it is.” These heart-breaking words are spoken by Lemlem, a sweet and gentle 28-year old girl, who has had a rough start to life.  Lemlem with family and friends at home in Addis Ababa
Lemlem and her seven brothers and sisters were born and grew up in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. When Lemlem was around six years old, and the famine in Ethiopia was at its worst, she lost her father and went to live in an orphanage as her mother couldn’t handle to look after all the children on her own. Briefly after that, her vision started getting worse. “I don’t remember exactly when it happened, all I remember is that I found it more and more difficult seeing the blackboard,” explains Lemlem. “I think I was maybe twelve or thirteen years old when it started happening. I went to the doctors many times and I was desperate because they had no suggestions for me. It was a hopeless situation”. In the space of a few years, her vision was reduced to almost nothing. It was no longer possible for her to follow classes – a devastating blow to someone whose only chance of breaking out of the poverty cycle would be an education. The last couple of her years in the orphanage, Lemlem had practically been reduced to staying in her room, no longer able to play with her friends and relying on them to bring her food as she couldn’t navigate her way around the canteen. Lemlem left the orphanage when she was around eighteen years old. By then her mother had found a job as a cleaner in a local hospital and her elder siblings had moved away from home. Over and over again, Lemlem’s mother brought her to different doctors in the hope that someone would be able to cure her eyes. No one knows for certain what caused her condition but it is likely that malnutrition or maybe an untreated infection would have been the cause of her corneal opacity, for which the only treatment would be a corneal transplant. But every time the answer was the same – there was a cure available, but no doctor in Ethiopia was able to perform the surgery. The only hope, she was told, would be to go abroad for surgery – something that the family would never be able to afford, so they started contacting international charities in the hope for help. Then in 2002, things changed; Lemlem met Dr Yonas. Having just returned from an ORBIS-sponsored corneal fellowship at the Storm Eye Institute, he told her that he would be able to operate on her and that she would be able to see again. Naturally, after years of rejections, Lemlem found it hard to believe that this could be true but nonetheless, her family was delighted that there was renewed hope. Dr Yonas first started working with ORBIS in 1997 when ORBIS volunteer Dr Garth Taylor, a corneal specialist from Canada, was at the Menelik II Hospital in Addis Ababa for a hospital-based training programme. Since 1997, Dr Yonas has participated in four hospital-based programmes and one Flying Eye Hospital programme. “The training I have had from ORBIS is great,” says Dr Yonas. “Besides the skills transfer, ORBIS is also supplying us with equipment and supplies to our department, without which the going would had been difficult. Above all, the establishment of the eye bank means a lot to me as a corneal surgeon.” ORBIS was instrumental in establishing the National Eye Bank of Ethiopia, which, as the only of its kind in the entire country, was inaugurated in June 2003. Before then, corneas were sourced from abroad – a costly and unreliable procedure.  Lemlem’s first transplant was performed in 2002 and her second eye was operated on three years later – this time with a locally harvested cornea. Both operations were incredibly successful. “A story like that of Lemlem’s illustrates the importance of an eye bank,” explains Dr Yonas. “Lemlem was living in an orphanage, she was a school drop out with no hope of ever regaining her sight. Before the surgery she had vision of counting fingers in front of her eyes, now she has uncorrected vision of 20/80 – an amazing result given the amount of years she was blind. It is a wonderful privilege to be able to help people like her, to see the impact of your little contribution to the quality of her life. This was really brought home to me at the first anniversary of our eye bank. Lemlem was reading a story during the ceremony, and no one in the audience was able to hold back their tears.” Lemlem went back to school at the beginning of the year. “I had a gap of nine years where I couldn’t study, so to be able to go back is like a new life for me, it is like being reborn.” Her free time is mainly spent with her best friend Adam, whom she met three years ago. Says Adam of the change in her friend; “When I met Lemlem she was very shy and found it difficult to come to people. But in the time since her operation, she is free to do what she likes and her personality has changed a lot. She is a very good friend.” Lemlem’s mother Abebesh agrees; “Just a few years back it was a problem for us to introduce her to other people, but now everything is different. When I see her read and write…I just can’t find the words to explain what that means to me. May God bless Dr Yonas – that is all I can do for him in return, ask God to give him a long life.” Speaking of Dr Yonas, Lemlem’s face lights up. “Dr Yonas is not just a doctor to me. He is part of this family, he is my friend, my brother. Only God is more important to me. He is the light of our life.” |
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