Meet Saroun, a 58-year-old Cambodian man. Saroun is married with two daughters. “A rice and crop farmer by trade, in his spare time Saroun likes watching the news on TV,” our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC), tells us.
Lately, both work and leisure time have been less enjoyable for Saroun. “Saroun developed a cataract in each eye 5 years ago,” explains CSC. “This causes him blurred vision and tearing, and he is afraid of sunshine.”
Saroun’s vision is so impaired that it is hard for him to work, or even leave his house on his own. “I wish my husband could see more clearly than he does now so it wasn’t so hard for him to work,” his wife shares. And in the long run, if untreated, Saroun’s clouded lenses could get even worse—cataracts are the world’s leading cause of blindness.
For $225 we can sponsor a two-part medical procedure that will clear his eyes of cataracts. Doctors will first use a technique called phacoemulsification to break up and remove the cataracts in both of his eyes; then they will insert an artificial lens in each eye that will act just as his healthy, natural lenses did before they developed cataracts.
“After this surgery, Saroun will be able to see clearly again,” says CSC.