Ensuring Girls in Ethiopia Receive Basic Eye Care

Incredible eye health workers like Dinknesh often travel treacherous journeys across the country to complete a crucial task in the fight to eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia.

Trachoma is an easily preventable bacterial eye infection. Yet today, it is still a significant cause of irreversible blindness and low vision across rural Ethiopia. Each year Orbis conduct Trachoma Impact Surveys in areas across southern Ethiopia. These surveys involve multiple teams travelling long distances to conduct home-to-home screenings. Each team comprises graders - who assess the eyes of people in the community and identify anyone with active trachoma – and recorders, who then record this data. This home-to-home process also ensures the most vulnerable people in the community are reached, like women and girls. 

Trachoma Impact Surveys are a critical tool in the fight against blinding trachoma. They give us vital prevalence data that helps determine interventions, and teams raise awareness, promote good hygiene, and offer treatment for early-stage trachoma.

Dinknesh, who works as an Integrated Eye Care Worker, became a trachoma Grader three years ago after receiving training from Orbis.

Her drive to work in eye care began when she witnessed someone’s sight restored: “The doctor removed a woman’s eye dressing. She looked up and she was able to see. Her joy was infectious.”

“It is also painful to see those who are blind just because they couldn’t access eye care.”

Last year surveys began in September and took teams almost two months to complete from start to finish.

“We screen around 30 houses each day. One day I found three children with active trachoma, two of the children were from the same household and I gave them eye ointments. On another day we found three adults that required surgery and we referred them to the nearest health center.”

For Dinknesh, one of the most rewarding aspects is hearing the stories of people whose lives have been transformed by their home-to-home screenings. “During this survey, I met a woman who told me that ‘last year I was blind, I stayed home alone, but because of your visit, I got referred to a health center for surgery and I can see now.’ I love this job because it prevents blindness.”

We want to thank Dinknesh and all her colleagues, who have been working hard to conduct the recent Trachoma Impact Surveys. Thanks to their dedication and commitment, many communities can look forward to a trachoma-free future.

Serawit is a 15-year-old beautiful girl who lives with her uncle in the town of Arbaminch. Before she moved to the city, Serawit lived outside Arbaminch, but there was no high school for her to pursue her higher-level education.

Searawit’s story shows how sometimes easy solutions, such as proving glasses, can change the world. By simply providing glasses to Serawit, she could continue her education and enjoy school with her friends.

As excited Serawit was to start her class in the city, she faced a new challenge that she thought was normal for a long time. Serawit had been having difficulties seeing from distance. To solve her problem, she used to sit in front row or ask her friends for their notebook to copy what she missed during class. 

Serawit continued to do the same at her new school. But it was obvious that she was having a hard time reading anything from the blackboard even though she sat in front row.

Luckily, one of her teachers, trained by Orbis on eye care, referred her for an eye test and Serawit received glasses. She is thrilled with her glasses and is happy she can continue to grow in school. 

Attending school is not only vital to gaining education but can also be vital in preventing eye diseases like trachoma. In school, students can attend school eye care clubs where they learn the importance of hygiene to keep their eyes healthy.