During “live week” from 26-30 April, the charity will share stories of people with sight problems as they access treatment that will – hopefully – enable them to see again.
Watch this film to find out more!
Rosi Jack, Head of Communications at CBM UK, explains: “We’re so excited to have this opportunity to show the life-changing impact of eye treatment for conditions like cataracts – where a 15 minute operation can literally restore sight to someone who is blind. Our partner eye hospital Norton Eye Unit has kindly agreed that a local photographer and film-maker can follow their work for the week so that we can share the stories of patients each day. We might even witness someone’s first moments of sight after being blind, maybe for years, which would be truly incredible. We hope that seeing the amazing impact of sight-saving work will encourage people to support our Light up Lives appeal to improve access to eye health services in countries like Zimbabwe.”
CBM will be sharing updates, photos and videos from the hospital several times a day on Facebook and Instagram, as well as daily emails with updates from patients and staff. The charity hopes that people will get involved in the week by sharing messages of support for the health workers and people accessing treatment.
Every day, people in the world’s poorest places become needlessly blind because of conditions that can be easily treated – like cataracts, which cause half of all blindness. But when people can access the right treatment and support, the impact is truly amazing – for example, an operation costing as little as £24 can restore sight to someone who has been blind due to cataracts.
The Live Week is part of CBM’s Light up Lives appeal, which aims to enable people living needlessly blind in the world’s poorest places to access sight-saving treatments and see again. The UK government will match every pound donated by the UK public to the appeal between 18 February and 20 May. Public donations will support CBM’s work preventing blindness and transforming lives wherever the need is greatest, while match funding from the UK government will be used to improve access to sight-saving eye-health services in Zimbabwe.
To find out more about Live Week or to support Light up Lives
- Visit www.lightuplives.net
Like CBM UK’s Facebook page for the latest updates and prayer alerts during live week