At the age of seven, he became near-sighted and all he could see were faint shapes. 11-year-old Prince Fayiah cannot read or write. He spends his time helping his mother with domestic duties such as drawing water from the well. He also enjoys playing football with his friends but sometimes runs into problems when the sun blinds him and he can't see the ball. Unfortunately, his peers tease him because of his deteriorating eyesight.
Anticipating a dark future for Prince, his uncle Junior Harleyson, living in Monrovia, brought him to a clinic run by a local church. To their dismay, doctors at the clinic could do nothing for him. Prince was told he needed a major operation to correct his vision.
Perhaps Mercy Ships would be able to help. Sensing hope, Junior brought his nephew to a Mercy Ships eye screening in Gaye Town. He was given an appointment card for surgery on the Africa Mercy the following week.
Junior said of the surgery his nephew received,"I pray that he will be fine, that he will be able to see and go to school. By the grace of God, he will eventually be able to go to college and start working too."
Prince, with his "new" eyes can now see sunlight. His vision is fully restored, as 99% of cataract surgeries are successful. His parents aim to get Prince enrolled in school in September this year.
In a country where 70% of the population is illiterate, Prince can finally hope to be among the lucky ones who do learn to read and write. With the removal of his cataracts, he will be able to go to school with his friends and work towards his dream of becoming a doctor, helping to save people's lives.
Project Mercy Vision
Blindness and vision impairment create a detrimental impact on human and socio economic conditions in a country like Liberia, with a population of three million.
Almost 80% of blindness is preventable or treatable with medical and surgical interventions. Cataracts are responsible for almost half of the blindness, while a growing number of children with treatable vision impairment do not have access to the necessary treatment. An estimated 30,000 Liberians are blind. Because of the exodus of medical personnel during and after the nation's long war, there are few doctors available to care for the people.
Mercy Vision is the name given to one of the current projects of Mercy Ships volunteers during this year's assignment to the West African nation. Mercy Vision is addressing surgical and medical eye needs, with the main emphasis on reduction of blindness as a result of cataracts. Non-surgical eye care addresses allergy, infection, injury and pain. Mercy Ships is also training an additional ten community eye workers and providing ongoing training for two local eye surgeons to help build capacity through surgical and medical eye training.
More than two thousand Liberians will receive free surgery for cataracts, with surgery for another 300 affected by other conditions resulting in blindness. Eye treatment is being provided for 10,000 patients at community clinics. In addition, 5,000 pairs of UV blocking sunglasses will be distributed, along with 5,000 pairs of reading glasses to selected patients.
As with all of its programs Mercy Ships, a faith-based global charity, seeks to serve the poorest of the poor in the developing world, following the example of Jesus. Programs provide practical and spiritual support to developing nations striving to provide health care access for all.
The emphasis is on the needs of the world's poorest nations in West Africa, where the hospital ship Africa Mercy provides the platform for services extending up to ten months at a time. A permanent land-based program operates in Sierra Leone, while teams also work in several nations of Central America and the Caribbean. Mercy Ships has 14 support offices around the world, including the Australian office at Caloundra, on the Queensland Sunshine Coast. www.mercyships.org.au