This is Sardji, a street food vendor selling fried beancurd.

At the age of 56, cataract has managed to reduce Sardji’s sight to one metre. He often had accident when riding his motorbike peddling his fried beancurd and he couldn’t see if a potential customer waved at him, wanting to buy.

Sardji is also a house-husband, he does all the housework, from cooking to cleaning, preparing beancurd and looking after his wife who has been paralysed for the past 15 years after suffering from stroke.

With no children to assist them, the disabled couple struggle to cope on a daily basis.

The risk of losing his remaining one metre sight to nothing was real and frightening. Sardji knew that day would soon come, maybe just in a month or two. He was worried sick how he and his wife would survive. A blind and a crippled with no income or saving and no one to help them.

But a 5-10 minute procedure has alleviated this fear. Sardji can now continue selling fried beancurd for years to come and take care of his wife.

Mum (43 year old Mariamah), Dad, four children (Sopiahrini 21, Ilham 14, Iman 13, Ana Mufidah 11) and one grandchild (19 months old) all suffered from cataract blindness.

Mum and dad are farmers from Simangambat, Tapanuli. All of their four children were diagnosed with cataracts when they were just 3 years old toddlers.

Five years ago cataracts also took away mum’s sight.

Mariamah, Sopriahrini, Ilham, Iman and Ana were all operated in our Sidempuan camp in 2016.

Before their surgeries, Ilham, Iman and Ana had to sit next to the blackboard in the class, now they can sit with their peers and their studies have improved tremendously.

I want to be an eye doctor because I want to help blind people and eye surgery is not painful.
Ana Mufidah, 11 years old

Mariamah is very keen to bring her husband and grandchild to our next eye surgery event.

74 year old Sutanto Gonanta’s eye sight had been reduced to only one metre. His wife does not fare better, suffering from incurable retina disorder.

We were surprised to know they are still working, as shop keepers at a household chemical store which sells laundry detergent, floor cleaning liquid and soaps. The couple earns USD $60 a month in salary (as a couple), of which, half goes towards paying house rent. The rest is for their daily meals, USD 1 a day. Any incidental costs are hopefully covered from the small commission they make from the sales.

Under the government’s measurement of poverty, this couple is not considered poor because they earn USD 2 per person per day!

The couple had 3 children, the eldest was a general practitioner who died a year ago from over exhaustion. Their second child lives in Kalimantan province with her own family earning just enough for her own family. Their youngest son is a freelance sales person who sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t.

It is clear the couple is still very much saddened by the loss of their eldest son. Sutanto showed me his son’s Medical Practising card which he keeps in his shirt pocket at all time.

But true love binds them through thick and thin. There is no doubt by the way Mrs Sutanto carried on fussing about her husband that she loves him very much and he does too.

Dr. Teguh restored Sutanto’s sight in December 2015. We are all as happy as Sutanto and his wife, knowing his restored sight is indeed priceless for this old loving couple’s lives.

Born as the eldest of 4 to a farmer couple, Aulia (9 years old) is a smart kid. He loves to read. At the age of 2, before he started schooling, he was already able to read prayers out loud.

Everything changed when Aulia was diagnosed with cataracts at the age of 3. The story of how that happened is not clear. His parents said it started with eye irritation. They suspected that dust got into his eyes while playing with friends. The irritation worsened as time went by and his sight gradually reduced.

His limited vision made reading very difficult for little Aulia, he had to place the book very close to his eyes, almost kissing the book and he had to focus hard to make out the words and sentences.

When Aulia’s uncle heard about ANV free eye screening in Sidempuan, he immediately booked the seats on the earliest bus and the whole family came with high hopes for Aulia.

Though we managed to tame Aulia for surgery under local anaesthesia, it was a difficult process. He cried and could not be pacified. At one stage, we thought he had to go under general anaesthesia which meant his surgery would have to be rescheduled.

Lucky for him and us, we discovered he loves singing! So throughout the procedure (from anaesthesia to surgery), his mother was by his side with several volunteers singing and he sang along!

One month after surgery, Aulia and his parents came for check up.

What a difference! No longer cranky and crying, Aulia is now a composed, confident and smart looking little boy.