|
Apogee Photo - Home
|
|
|
Apogee Photo - Home
|
|
Into the Light:
Photo Documentary for Dutch Eye Care Foundation
by Marielle van Uitert
|
Most of us take for granted that our sight will remain with us throughout our lives and that if we have a problem with our eye sight, we merely go to the eye doctor and our sight will be restored. But for the millions in developing countries, it is a gift that has been taken away due to a range of eye conditions related to poor diet, poor hygiene, a natural aging process, or the lack of good medical facilities. They are eye conditions that affect young and old alike and most conditions are treatable—from something as simple as putting on a pair of glasses to the number one cause for needing surgery—cataracts (an eye problem which can cause blindness). For some, it is too late!
I was asked to go on an assignment to the upper east region of Ghana, Africa for the Dutch Eye Care Foundation to photographically document and feature some of the people who have cataracts or debilitating eye conditions. The Eye care Foundation, which also runs programs in Nepal and Cambodia, tries their best to help those who are blind or nearly blind and gives them hope, self esteem and a future.
I would like you to join me in meeting Isa, Latifah, Abbul,
Mary and Azara.
~ Meet Isa ~
Name: Isa, Farmer
Isa travels 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Salaga to Bawku in order to get an eye operation. Isa is blind. He is dependent on his daughter Latifah who lovingly holds his hand during the long trip. Over the past five months, he has gradually lost his vision to cataracts in both eyes.
Isa is a farmer and can no longer work. His six children and his brothers now work the land because he cannot tell the difference between weeds and vegetation.
~ Meet Latifah ~
Name: Latifah, Daughter of Isa
“I am very worried about my father. He cannot see anymore,
so my three sisters and two brothers are now working on the
land, while I help my mother with the cooking. I hope he
can see after the operation because my father is a farmer
and his life is on the land”.
~ Meet Hatti Abbul ~ © 2010 Marielle van
Uitert All
rights reserved.
Name: Haddi Abbul, School boy
We wished Abbul well, as the operation would not take place
until after we departed the country. |
||||||
|
~ Meet Mary ~ © 2010 Marielle van
Uitert All
rights reserved.
Name: Mary Kelibilla, Trader of Fruits & Vegetables
~ Meet Azara ~
Name: Azara Adamu, Farmer
Azara, mother of five children and second wife, travels from Tempane to Garu to get her eye surgery. She waited too long to visit the clinic and her mucous membrane is rapidly growing over her cornea. It will take several operations for the rest of her lifetime in order to prevent total blindness.
For the past two years, Azara has been in pain and both her
eyes are irritated and itching. She is worried because she
cannot provide her two youngest children with sufficient
care. She is the second wife of her husband who has to
divide his attention between two big families.
So many of my documentaries have an affect on me, but this
one affected me very deeply. The joy and gratefullness of
these people astounded me. Even though they are nearly
blind, they never complained, and I know from my own
experience that an eye operation is not painless! I am a
photographer who sees them with healthy eyes. Through my
eyes and through the eye of the camera I looked at them,
knowing that they can only hear me. Sometimes I just had to
put my camera away so I could hold their hands. I even
danced with them. It was an amazing, mutually respectful
meeting of our hearts and minds.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
To find other articles by subject, just type his name in the Search Box.
Apogee Photo and Apogee Photo Magazine are trademarks of Apogee Photo, Inc. © 1995-2012 Apogee Photo, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
