Cataract stole Akosua’s dignity. Now she’s taken it back

My story

Akosua was powerless and treated like a child, unable to make any decisions on her own.

Akosua worked hard as a farmer to produce and sell food. The 72 year old’s vision was becoming blurred so she went to her local herbalist for a natural remedy. This remedy had an opposite effect and soon she could see nothing.

Being blind took away Akosua’s independence and also her dignity. In her own words: “It was a very dark time in my life because I felt like I was no longer living. I did what people told me to do, I could not move around freely, neither could I cook nor eat the kind of food I wanted. I was treated like a child”.

How we helped
Akosua thought that her blindness was a result of being cursed. However, when she went to the Suhum eye clinic, she found out that her blindness was actually a result of cataract and she could be cured if she had surgery.

As Akosua had heard of some horror stories about excruciatingly painful eye operations, her mind was still not put to ease. The clinic offered her counselling and after a nurse explained that the surgery was not actually painful, Akosua agreed to have her eyes operated on.

When she removed her eye bandages, it was clear that the surgery was a success and she had her freedom back.