“Thank God for giving us a mother who loves us so much”

“I was born with this eye issue. Initially I didn’t really know I had an eye problem until school, and I realised that I couldn’t see the board from afar. Now I’m grown, I see but I don’t see clearly. I can’t decipher colours and I don’t see things that are far from me.

“One of the tasks I find difficult is washing, because sometimes I don’t see clearly and someone would have to tell me it’s not done properly; the clothes I’ve washed are not properly clean. Bringing up my children and instilling morals – it’s difficult due to this eye problem.

“I haven’t sought medical help because the money we have, we use to feed the children and to enrol them in school because we want a better a future for them. With education, a child will be able to attain anything. We don’t want them to end up the way we are, begging.

“I knew I had this eye problem and [the children’s] father had this same condition. So, after I gave birth to my first daughter, I asked my husband’s sister to check if the child has this eye defect: she said yes. I told my husband that we needed to take the baby to the hospital. They referred us to the eye centre in Kaduna.

“Since then, when I have given birth, they check the eye pupil. They will tell me the black part has a white layer covering it. So that’s how we know when we take them to hospital. I don’t want them to grow up with this eye ailment – I want them to go to school and be able to fend for themselves.

“I’ve been attending the eye centre for over 14 years… I appreciate them because my children can do a lot of things now. They can read, they can write and they can see things from afar.

“The importance of sight is that first, they can go anywhere without help. Secondly, they do their chores and thirdly, they can go to school. My greatest dream and aspiration is for my children to go to school and be something in the future.”

“We take the children to general hospital. From there we get referred to the eye centre. Due to financial constraints, they will give us a form and tell us: “Okay, there is an organisation, Sightsavers, that is responsible for free surgery.

“I am very happy because my children can attend mainstream school now. If it were not for Sightsavers, they would have attended a school for the blind. But materials are not available in Nigeria for blind people, and to give training to a blind child is very expensive.

“But my children can afford to go to school now because of this organisation. So, I am happy.

“My wish is for my children to grow up and help other people. We want a blind man’s child to be able to become president, to be able to become governor in the future.”

“I’m in school, in primary four. I realised when we were in school and there was something written on the board, I could see other children writing but I was not able to write because I couldn’t see. I would sit down and cry, but when I remembered that was how God created me, I would clean my tears and cheer up.

“I was not happy. I felt very sad seeing some of my siblings facing the same issue as me. Some can’t see and some can see.

“Before the surgery, I didn’t see at all. But now when I sit in front, I can see what’s written on the board. So there’s a big difference. I am very thankful to God for my ability to see better now. I feel happy.

“Now I can keep the Quran on my legs and be able to see what’s written. Then, I couldn’t even help with house chores at all, but now I can.

“I want to be a doctor so that I can help people just like me. I want to become an ophthalmologist.