Give the gift of eyesight to a child like Sumaiya

Eight-year-old Sumaiya is a sweet, carefree girl who loves going to school – but until recently, she was falling behind in class.

She was going blind from cataracts, meaning she couldn’t see the board, and was often left to sit alone while her friends giggled and played during breaks.

Most of us associate cataracts with an 80-year-old, not an eight-year-old, but they can affect anyone. This small build-up of protein in the eye may not seem urgent, but if left untreated it can cause irreversible blindness. So for children like Sumaiya it is a race against time to operate before their sight is lost forever.

Having noticed her struggle at school, Sumiya’s teacher urged her grandmother to take her to the local hospital to be diagnosed. But, concerned about how the family could ever afford to pay for the sight-saving surgery Sumaiya needed, they had no choice but to return home.

Luckily for Sumaiya, the hospital got back in touch to tell them that, thanks to donations from people like you, Sightsavers would cover the costs.

Following her operation, the change in Sumaiya’s mood and confidence was incredible. When she got home, she wasted no time in racing around the house as she took in all the sights were unclear to her just a few days before.

Sightsavers is an international organisation that changes lives for the long term, in some of the poorest parts of the world. It’s thanks to generous regular support from people like you that we are able to fund treatment for children like Sumiya. But there are still countless people in need – can you help us reach them?