Restore eye sight & worth of rural poor in Uganda

“My family chased me from the garden when they noticed I was pulling out the plants instead of the weeds,” she said quietly. "That was when they decided that enough was enough and brought me to the hospital'', she continued. Gently led by the hand of an attendant, she entered the consultation room. On examination, I found that both of her eyes had total white cataracts, completely blocking any light from entering her eyes. She had been living in total darkness. Puzzled, I asked, “Why were you trying to weed when you can’t see anything?” She replied softly, “I didn’t want people to think I was blind and helpless.”

This quote is from a story shared in a post on X, on 21^st March 2026, by an award-winning female Ugandan eye doctor, the only ophthalmologist in Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, a public hospital. Actually, she is the only eye doctor serving the whole of Karamoja sub-region, with a population of about 1.5 million people.

She never ceases to amaze in her quest for excellence and professionalism in delivering eyecare services; while going above and beyond to humanize blindness.

“Humanizing blindness means moving past stereotypes and pity to recognize visually impaired individuals as independent, capable, and multifaceted. It shifts the narrative from "tragedy" to inclusion, emphasizing accessible technologies, equal opportunity, and the lived reality of navigating a primarily visual world.”

Sadly, she is mostly a lone voice. Many in Uganda have significantly internalized debilitating stereotypes on blindness and it is visible in words, actions and public policy. “I didn’t want people to think I was blind and helpless.” The prevailing and dominant belief in Uganda that going blind necessarily means your life is over.

And that is why we celebrate with her and celebrate her. We love to read her many stories in which she has used her magical hands to perform surgeries that are saving people from avoidable blindness, one indigent patient at a time.

As shared on her post on X, the surgery she performed on her patient was successful. She who was brought to the hospital blind, “both of her eyes had total white cataracts, completely blocking any light from entering her eyes,” was saved from living in darkness.

“I can see the color of your dress. It’s blue!” she would exclaim excitedly whenever someone walked past. The excitement was contagious. She could now see everything she had missed. A by passer could easily mistake her to be insane.” 

Yes, we can. Little by Little, one eye at a time, and with your support, we can be the support team of eyecare service providers in Uganda; and through them. enable people from disadvantaged communities in rural Uganda to access eyecare services.

We at CPAR Uganda, are grateful for the donations so far made towards our project to restore eye sight & worth of rural poor in Uganda. To our supporters who have made a financial contribution, we say thank you.

We continue to ask for your assistance to spread the word and to encourage others in your wider networks to give in support of preventing blindness among the already disadvantaged and to advocate for implementation of policies that humanize blindness.

Links:

• Full Story on X "Her sight was failing"

“My blind brother George got killed by a car while crossing the road.

Crossing the road from the boda boda (motorbike taxi) stage on main street to the market, that is a death trap for blind people. They don’t have anywhere to walk.

The Local Council has kept quiet for too long. Even you, as a council member, nothing is being done.

My little brother is blind and the Council has no plans for people like him. If those roads were safe, maybe, just maybe, your brother wouldn’t have had that accident.

My brother refuses to leave the house now. He is terrified.

Nothing changes for people like me. The seeing have never planned for the blind. Not yesterday, not today, not tomorrow.

Out there, cars will knock me. People will still laugh. Everyone pretends to care, but when the blind suffer and the world keeps walking. George was just buried today. You want me to follow him?

Come with me and enjoy the sun, my brother. Things are going to change. We shall have the new pathways with raised edges so you can follow them by touch. And the signposts they will glow in different colours depending on directions.

I am more than ready to go out. I kept imagining the sound of the new pathways. Can you imagine? Raised edges I can feel with my cane. And the signposts that flow in different colours, I want to hear the difference. Even light has a sound, you know.

I haven’t felt this alive in years. Do you think people will notice I dressed up?

Come on, sister. Take my hand. Let’s go before the sun goes down.

You also promised, we’d go to where you will put the new signpost near the market. The one that plays a sound when you’re about to cross. I want to stand there and listen. I want to hear the world guiding me again.

We are tired! Tired of leaders who take money and leave the blind in darkness!

We see it with our feet. With our hands. With our fear. When you forget to plan for us, you erase us.

Do you know hat it means to stand at the edge of a road and not know whether the next step will be life or death?

Blindness does not warn you before it comes. So, build a world that will be kind to you when your eyes grow tired.”

Extracted from the script of a play “FEET THAT CAN SEE.” A play that was scripted, performed and edited by Media Change Agents in training under our Dr. Paul Hargrave Memorial Centre Human Development Project in November 2025.

“FEET THAT CAN SEE” was inspired by our “Restore eyesight & worth of rural poor in Uganda” project.

Scripting and performing the play served a multi-pronged purpose:

Teach learners how to create original content that is intended for behavioural change for the benefit of persons less advantaged. Each learner participated in originating the script in English and then translating scenes to one of the Ugandan languages (mother-tongue); and performing the play in their own mother-tongue. With guidance from their trainers, learners shot and edited the play.

Consciously awaken learners to the plight and suffering of millions of visually impaired Ugandans and who are marginalized with minimal public services provision, if any. For context, it is reported that there are over 20 million people who are blind across Sub-Saharan Africa, of whom nearly 3 million are Ugandans. And for those millions of Ugandans blind and visually impaired Ugandan roads "present signficant safety challenges."

We hold hope that our learners were moved sufficiently to become advocates for the blind and visually impaired. We hope they will lobby duty bearers to act, plan for and execute interventions for the blind. So that being blind need not be a death sentence. Most importantly, avoidable blindness should not prevail.

In the meantime, in Country in which the visually impaired are unable to access official help, your contribution in support of the work of the very few eye doctors in Uganda who are fighting blindness and are restoring sight goes a long way.

Thank you to all our donors who have made a financial contribution in support of equipping eye doctors to prevent avoidable blindness. We continue to ask for your help. Please help us to spread the word to others in your network, encouraging them to make a financial donation. Together we can contribute to a world that is kind to the blind in Uganda.

Links:

• Daily Monitor - "Visually demand rights of using white cane"
• Daily Monitor - Tackling the Increasing sight problems in Uganda