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.”