By Elene Rich

Paul, the energetic 11-year-old in the waiting room, has been totally blind since birth. While anxiously awaiting an operation that could change his lifeforever, Paul bombards the nurses and Family Care staff with questions: “Will I be able to go to school now?”,

“Can I play football with the other children?”

Paul Uzondu is about to undergo a bilateral operation
to remove the cataracts that had so far prohibited him
from seeing any of the world around him.

An hour later he is wheeled into the recovery room.

A day later, Paul squints as the bandages are slowly and carefully removed, and … he sees light for the first time!

It takes a few more weeks for Paul to fully recover and gain his full sight. But he now awakes each day with an indescribable excitement, knowing that his dreams -- active participation in normal childhood games, an education and a future that he chooses – are now all within grasp.

Paul was treated in a free medical project that we organize on a regular basis in rural areas throughout Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, involving a team of over 50 surgeons, ophthalmologists, dentists, general practitioners, and volunteers.

A team of doctors work tirelessly (10- to 14-hour days is the norm), diagnosing the hundreds that pass through each day and assigning them to the proper department.

In the ophthalmologic theater, patients like Paul undergo cataract removals and other procedures --truly life-changing operations -- the patients being led in by the hand, legally blind, and regaining their sight after a short recovery period.

Elene Rich is a Project Manager with Family Care Association Nigeria, a FCF Project in Lagos, Nigeria.