Seeing Means the Sky is the Limit
Five-year-old Pandah was born with a bilateral leukocaria (congenital white cataract) and had lived with blurry vision all her life. Her condition required corrective surgery that was not possible locally in Mali, and costly travel to another country for treatment was not an option for Pandah’s family. “Knowing your daughter has a debilitating eye problem that can be corrected but not having the money or medical care available to do so is a parent’s worst nightmare,” said Pandah’s mother.
Joining forces to help
When LCIF partnered with Noor Dubai, a non-profit organization based in the United Arab Emirates that chose sight as its annual charity project in 2008-09, the nightmare ended for Pandah and her mother. After participating in eye screenings, 72 patients requiring surgery, including Pandah, were treated in Dubai. Lions and ophthalmologists volunteered to provide follow-up care both in Dubai and in the patients’ home countries.
Following this successful endeavor, Noor Dubai extended its partnership with LCIF. The second phase involved continuing the Lions-Carter Center SightFirst onchocerciasis (river blindness) control initiatives in four African countries.
Empowered to dream big
Today, Pandah is full of life. Pandah smiles broadly when her mom explains that when seeing her mother’s face for the first time, she exclaimed, “Mom, your lips are black!”
“My daughter is healthy, she sees well, and she is eager to attend school. This is the only thing that matters to me,” her mother said. Education is the path to a better life in a developing country with limited resources such as Mali. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Pandah said she wants to be a teacher, but then—maybe thinking of her trip to Dubai—added, “Or perhaps a pilot. I do love planes and airports.”
