Daw Aye is a 76-year-old woman who lives with her family in Htantabin Township, Yangon Division, Burma. She is a retired teacher, and she volunteers at a monastery in Htantabin Township, helping students with their homework and guiding them in their night studies. Her pension is 110,000 kyat (approx. 110 USD) per month. Daw Aye’s daughter is a volunteer cook for the students who live at the same monastery. Daw Aye’s son-in-law sometimes volunteers to drive patients from monastery to various hospitals in Yangon. Her grandson is a high school student. They receive food from the abbot at the monastery and if they get sick, they go to the free clinic in the village, set up by the monastery’s abbot.
Daw Aye cannot remember how long ago, but a few years ago, she noticed that the vision in both of her eyes began to blur, and she had difficulty reading. She went to a shop that sells eyeglasses and bought a pair for herself. She wore the eyeglasses until the middle of 2021, when she felt that the eyeglasses no longer helped her see clearly. However, she did not tell anyone and did not go to a clinic or a hospital because she did not want to bother her daughter about her vision. In early December 2021, she decided to go to the free clinic in Htantabin when her vision continued to worsen. When she met with the doctor, she was told that they could not help her as there are no ophthalmologists at the clinic. The doctor suggested she go to a hospital that has an ophthalmologist. Again, Daw Aye did not go to the hospital because she did not want to bother her daughter or son in-law.
Around the last week of December 2021, one patient had to go to the Karen Baptist Convention (KBC) Hospital for investigation from the monastery. After Daw Aye learned that her son in-law would be driving this patient to the Hospital, she told the abbot about her blurred vision. She then with her son in-law and the other patient to KBC Hospital. At the hospital, the ophthalmologist tested her eye with a machine and diagnosed her with cataract in her left eye. The doctor told her that she would need surgery to replace the lens in her left eye as the lens had become cloudy. After surgery, she would be able to see again with her left eye.
Currently, Daw Aye cannot see peoples’ faces with her left eye, but she can make out if it is dark or bright outside. With her right eye, she can still see things that are near to her, but she cannot see distant objects. She feels like she cannot help students with their homework as she cannot see with her left eye. She currently has to use her right eye to read when she helps the students, which feels strange and uncomfortable.
In her free time, Daw Aye loves to meditate and pray. She wants to continue to help the students at the monastery after her surgery.