A Tragically Common Story

Ghana, West Africa August 31, 2006 -- Kwesi Yawson went blind one day as he fished at sea off the coast of his native Ghana. Between one moment and the next the world went dim and blurry. Kwesi could suddenly distinguish little more than light and dark shapes. Terrified, he begged his friends to row him to shore immediately.


“I went to the hospital, but all the doctors had to offer were eye drops that didn’t help,” Kwesi remembers. “I would wake in the middle of the night with my eyes badly swollen and burning. The pain became unbearable.” When it was clear he would no longer be able to provide an income, Kwesi’s wife took their two children and disappeared.

The occasional fish provided by his former work-mates was likely all that kept him from starving. Perhaps worst of all, Kwesi lost his sense of self-worth. “My pride had been shattered,” he says. “I had been stripped of all I held dear. The job I loved was no more, my family was no more and my eyes were no more. As far as I was concerned, I was no longer a man.”


Kwesi’s story is a tragically common tale. There are 45 million people presently coping with blindness according to the World Health Organization. Most live in developing nations. Sight could be restored to 50% of these individuals with a simple, twentyminute surgical procedure. However, for most, quality eye care is either financially out of reach or simply unavailable.


In response Mercy Ships has dramatically expanded eye care services. In the past, ophthalmologists and other vision professionals with Mercy Ships served largely on a short-term, rotating basis. Now, a resident ophthalmologist and associated support staff have been added to the full-time crew. Mercy Ships eye care has also gone mobile, taking vision care, surgical screening, and eye health education directly to the poor.

Beyond the initial screening, held in late June, the Mercy Ships eye team is offering mobile limics, taking vision care directly to poor communities throughout the region and screening prospective patients for onboard surgery. As a result, the number of patients Mercy Ships treats will increase dramatically: 4,000 people a year will receive cataract surgery; 1200 children will have their crossed eyes corrected, eliminating a socially stigmatizing condition; 800 more will receive various other ophthalmic surgical procedures; 200 will receive ocular prostheses to replace eyes lost to injury or disease, ending physical discomfort and restoring appearance.

In addition to providing a steady stream of prescreened patients for surgery onboard, the mobile team is taking quality vision care right into the poorest communities. Returning to the same four remote clinic locations week after week, the mobile team provides continuity of care, expanded opportunities to become invested in the community, and an appropriate forum for demonstrating and sharing the message of a loving God.


Deploying additional eye care specialists also allows Mercy Ships to support sustainable vision care solutions. Mercy Ships surgeons have already trained a number of Ghanaian doctors in advanced surgical techniques in partnership with a local Christian hospital. At the village level, community health workers are being trained to treat simple complaints and to recognize more serious conditions requiring professional care.

Following his own free surgery, Kwesi Yawson commented, “The people on the ship accepted me gracefully, allowing me all the dignity I could muster. I was treated like a real man.” In less than one hour Mercy Ships surgeons repaired the damage that kept Kwesi in darkness for 15 years.


“The next day, when the bandages were peeled from my eyes and I could see again, I knew it was a miracle,” Kwesi says. “I lost my sight on water in a boat and received my sight on water on a ship 15 years later. Thank you Mercy Ships for allowing God to use you to bless many like me. You have restored the ability I needed to survive, and I can now do things for myself. It is my prayer God grants you strength and many blessings in all you do.”

A New Smile

Hi there, I know it has been a long time since I last updated this blog - but I have been waiting for a story about one of our longer term patients. Unfortunately the communications department have not published it yet - so it will have to wait.

In the mean time I thought I would show you a photo of one of our many cleft palate and lip repair patients. In NZ cleft lip and palate repair is provided free of charge to any child born with this condition.

Lip repair is routinely performed at 3 months of age, followed if necessary with palate repair at 9 months of age. The aim is to have repaired any defects before speech starts to develop. Unfortunately in many parts of the world this is not the case, as we have seen here in Ghana.

This is Emmanuel before:

And Emmanuel after his cleft lip repair.

This is Wonder before:

And Wonder after his cleft lip repair and Pharyngoplasty (a type of cleft palate repair)

There are many more kids and adults who we have looked after with similar sorts of conditions - and it is wonderful to see them sitting on their beds after their surgery checking out their new look with the mirrors they get in their admission pack. The biggest problem for most of them is the fact that we ask them not to eat rice for 6 weeks following surgery!!

Mercy Ships is helped by the charity Smile Train - who provide reimbursement to us for every cleft lip and palate repair performed on board. You can check out their website at www.smiletrain.org

Shai Hills and a Solar Eclipse

Well, a quiet week on the Anastasis, I have a heavy week next week, so I will try to bring you another patient story. In the meantime - here are a few photos of Ghana from the top of the Shai hills. We went there yesterday, drove through the wildlife/game reserve in our Mercy Ships Land Rover, and hiked up to get this awesome view!

Within the reserve there were also some bat caves - we hiked up into them - and what a noise! The bats were so loud - and when we saw them - so small!

Ghana is much greener than I imagined before I came, despite the heat and lack of rain! The other interesting thing that has happened this week was the partial solar eclipse.

We took the patients out to one of the decks to watch the astronomical event - and our crew photographer snapped this awesome photo!