Organisation: Cure Blindness Project
Location: Ethiopia

Free surgery at a Cure Blindness Project-supported outreach in Ethiopia restored sight to a mother and her daughter.
"She couldn't smile within these two years (when her daughter was bilaterally blind)," Mamite exclaims, her own face radiant with happiness. "Now she is smiling! Thanks God and all the doctors here. We both can see now!" 

Mamite Tukuli, 45, sought out eye care to restore her daughter’s sight. Kortu, 10, lost her vision in both eyes to cataracts. Mamite also suffered from cataract blindness. “I wasn't worried about my own eye," she confessed, "At least I could see with one. But I worried constantly about my little girl." 
 
In a household where Mamite's husband had multiple wives and over twenty children, resources and attention were stretched thin. Mamite felt helpless, watching her daughter's future slip away. Kortu, too young to attend school, relied on her siblings for even the simplest tasks, often stumbling and falling in darkness.  

One day, hope arrived in the form of a passing car speaker announcing free treatment, including transportation, accommodation, and food.   
 
"I was so sad about my daughter's future. She hadn't started school; she couldn't do anything by herself. Her sisters and brothers helped her go to the toilet, and she fell on the ground so many times. We were all so sad, and we didn't know what to do." 
 
Free surgery at a Cure Blindness Project-supported outreach restored sight to both mother and daughter. "She couldn't smile within these two years," Mamite exclaimed, her own face radiant with happiness. "Now she is smiling! Thanks God and all the doctors here. We both can see now!"