Meet Im, a 66-year-old woman from Cambodia. Our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC) shares, “Im is married with five children and ten grandchildren.” Throughout the day, “Im tries to keep herself busy doing housework,” adds CSC.
For the past seven years, Im’s vision has worsened due to a hypermature cataract in her left eye. Cataracts occur when a cloudy film grows over the eye lens, causing a gradual decline in vision. This condition is most common in older individuals, and cataracts will continue to develop until they reach hypermaturity. When hypermaturity occurs, the cloudy film over the lens becomes an opaque, solid mass—greatly limiting one’s vision.
CSC informs us that Im’s condition “makes her partially blind, and she can’t go anywhere or do much without assistance.” These limitations have caused a decrease in her self-confidence. “Im can’t support her family in any way,” remarks CSC.
With $150 in fudning, Im will undergo a procedure to surgically correct the hypermature cataract in her left eye. In this procedure, her old, cloudy eye lens will be replaced with a new, artificial one.
CSC states that after surgery and two days of hospital support, “Im will have restored vision.”
With regained vision, Im will once again be independent and plans to travel around her country. After surgery, Im expresses her hope “to go to the pagoda more often and travel to different places in Cambodia.”
