What They See: A GUIDE TO SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD WITH CATARACTS

HelpMeSee

Look around. What do you see? A sleepy cat dozing on a couch? Shadows on the sidewalk when clouds pass in front of the sun? A neighbor waving at you through the window as they walk by? For most of us, the way we interact and understand the world depends on our vision.

For some children in the world, a disease on their eye called a cataract is slowly robbing them of their vision and the opportunity to lead happy, healthy lives.

At HelpMeSee, we are helping these children. You can help too, first by better understanding the challenges they face.

2

Children with cataracts have poor depth perceptionImagine taking a walk with a child you love. Without depth perception, she might trip down the stairs or rush to cross the street in front of an approaching bus she thought was farther away.

Depth perception is the ability to judge how far away objects are from one another. Your eyes must work together for you to have good depth perception.

Try this experiment to see how depth perception works.

DID YOU KNOW?

Why does this happen? It’s easier to touch the cotton swabs together when you use both eyes. That’s because your eyes work together to let you see the swabs from different angles. Your brain uses the information that it gets from your eyes to help you judge the distance between the cotton swabs. When children have cataracts, their eyes don’t work together as a team.

1. Hold a cotton swab horizontally in each hand. Hold your arm straight out in front of you.

2. Close one eye. 3. Slowly move your hands toward each other and try to touch the ends of the cotton swab together. If you miss, keep trying.

4. Then open both eyes and try again.

What you will need: two cotton swabs

ACTIVITY 1

JulfiSadguru Netra Chikitsalaya (Chitrakoot, India)

Julfi is a little girl living in a remote part of central India. Her parents prayed seven long years for a baby, and her birth brought about much joy.

As she grew however, it became clear that Julfi’s vision was impaired. Their joy quickly turned to panic. Worried and afraid, Julfi’s parents sought advice from the elders in their village.

They suggested a visit to the Child Eye Care Center at Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya, Chitrakoot where Julfi could be treated at no cost. Once there, Julfi was diagnosed with bilateral cataracts.

Her right eye was operated on by a surgeon trained by HelpMe See, and the results were recorded using HelpMeSee software.

After follow up care, Julfi’s vision was fully restored as was her parent’s joy.

STORY 1

5

Children with cataracts can’t distinguish color well If someone asked you to hand them the red ball, but to you it looked green, you might think it was odd.

For a child with color-blindness, it can be very confusing. They might even think they are dumb if they can’t learn their colors or see the world as others see it.

Here are some things you can do to better understand how your eyes work to perceive colors.

DID YOU KNOW?

Why does this happen? In the retina of your eyes, there are three types of color receptors (cones) that are most sensitive to either red, blue or green. When you stare at a particular color for too long, these receptors get tired. When you then look at a different background, these tired receptors don’t work as well.

1. Stare at the yellow stripe in the middle of the fish in the picture above for about 15-30 sec.

2. Then move your gaze to the fish bowl. You should see a fish of a different color in the bowl. It helps if you keep your head still and blink once or twice after you move your eyes to the bowl.

What you will need: ...

ACTIVITY 2

7

Why does this happen? Water is a different density than air. Because of this, it slows down the white light from the sun and bends it into a beautiful rainbow of colors. Each of the colors bends at a different angle because each color travels at a different speed inside the water.

1. Set the bowl near the window.

In this activity, you will create a water prism to break light into the seven colors of the rainbow.What you will need: a sunny window, a big bowl full of water, a small mirror, a sheet of white paper

ACTIVITY 3

2. Place the mirror part way into the water facing the light.

3. Hold the piece of paper up to intercept the reflection.

4. Splash! All the colors of the rainbow should appear on the paper in bands of color.

8

KossiLomé, Togo in West Africa

Kossi is a 4-year old who lives in Lomé, Togo in West Africa. Cataracts in both eyes left him blind since birth and unable to attend school. On a typical day, he’d sit home waiting for hours until his cousins returned from school – a frustrating life for an active, curious little boy.

Although a simple operation could have restored Kossi’s vision, the surgery was expensive and impossible on his father’s $4 a day salary as a cab driver. After much searching, Kossi’s father learned of Dr. Abram Wodome, a Togolese ophthalmologist who provided free cataract surgeries to those in need thanks to an organization called HelpMeSee. A surgery was scheduled. After a quick procedure, Kossi was able to see for the first time in his young life.

He quickly mastered life as a sighted child; running, doing and seeing everything for himself. Now Kossi attends school and participates fully in his childhood. His days of waiting are over.

STORY 2

9

Children with cataracts have blurry vision Imagine how hard it would be to spend every day of your childhood with a headache. One early symptom of a cataract is blurry vision that makes everything appear as though you’re looking through a foggy window.

Children with uncorrected blurry vision can experience daily headaches and nausea.

Here’s an activity which will help you understand the blurry vision that kids with cataracts live with.

DID YOU KNOW?

Why does this happen? The plastic bag prevents light from passing through to a part of the eye called the retina. When the retina doesn’t have enough light, it produces a blurry image.

1. Place your goggles down lens facing down onto a sandwich bag.

What you will need: a clear plastic sandwich bag, scissors, marker, tape, swim goggles or safety goggles

ACTIVITY 4

2. With a marker trace the shape of each of the eye holes.

3. Now cut the bag to fit around the outside of the glasses and tape them into place.

4. Look around the room, what do you see? The world looks different doesn’t it? Maybe you can see light and movement, but it’s hard to make out details when your vision is this blurry. Now try walking. Be careful!

EXTRA If you like, use two or three layers of bags to create even more blurriness. That’s what children with severe cataracts may see. The most severe cases cause blindness.

11

SufiyanBidar, Karnataka, India

Sufiyan is an adorable two-year old toddler living in Bidar, a hill-top town in Karnataka, India. The highlight of Sufiyan’s day was when his beloved father returned home from work. Each night when he did, the toddler rejoiced at the sight of him – laughing, dancing, squealing and begging to be picked up.

One night his father came home, and Sufiyan sat motionless. He didn’t recognize his father because he couldn’t see him. A white spot on his left eye was growing and robbing him of his vision. When it spread to the other eye, the family turned to The Velmegna Eye Hospital.

With funding, training and equipment from HelpMeSee, the hospital was able to treat Sufiyan for cataracts in both his eyes at no cost to his low-income family. Papa’s nightly return has once again become a bright spot for Sufiyan, and his future is just as bright.

STORY 3

12

• A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye. The cloudiness prevents light from passing clearly through the lens, causing loss of vision.

• A cataract may be in one eye or both eyes.

• Children may be born with a cataract or develop one later.

• Screening for congenital cataracts is important, but because of the lack of

access to physical/pediatrician care, pediatric cataracts often go unnoticed in the poorest settings.

• Cataracts aren’t always visible to the naked eye. When they are, they usually appear as a white or gray spot or reflection inside the pupil.

• Unlike many eye diseases, vision loss due to cataract can be restored. In fact,

cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed procedures and has a 95 percent success rate.

• Children who are born with cataracts have a good chance of seeing normally if they are treated within the first two months of life. Left untreated, they will slowly go blind.

The Facts on Cataracts

13

Half of all the blind people in the world today could regain their sight tomorrow thanks to a surgery that takes as little as 5 minutes for an adult and 15 minutes for a child.

That’s 20 million children and adults who are blind today who could see tomorrow.

Unfortunately, 99% of them will never receive this surgery and regain their sight because they are too poor to afford it.

HelpMeSee’s solution is to deliver very low cost, high quality Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgeries (MSICS) to millions of adults and children in the developing world.

The Amazing Truth

14

OUR MISSION

To make sight possible for every child and adult blinded by cataracts—regardless of where they live or how much money they have.

helpmesee.org