Garden Girls raise money for Comic Relief

Garden girls have mangaged to save the sight of a child in Africa by raising £150.00 from the Surgery Tuck Shop. When girls come in to chat to Sue, our Matron, they can now buy a range of snacks from chocolate to Smoothies. The monies raised this term have gone to Comic Relief who showed such moving footage last Friday night of little children seeing for the very first time having had their cataracts removed.

Well done Garden girls on making a difference and keep it up!

A cataract operation can take as little as 20 minutes and can change a child's life forever. Here is the story of one girl whose life was turned around by Comic Relief working in tandem with Sightsavers

Chepngetich
Born with cataract in both eyes, Chepngetich had only ever seen the world as a cloud of indistinct shapes and obstacles, until her teacher sought out help from Sightsavers.

Beneath a tender shyness, sixteen-year-old Chepngetich has a brightness and strength that has helped her battle through the darkest of days.

Born with cataract in both eyes, Chepngetich or Chep, had only ever seen the world as a cloud of indistinct shapes and obstacles. As a daughter of poor farmers, toiling to feed seven children, Chep felt that her blindness was one more worry for her already struggling family.

“Sometimes I felt like mum and dad didn’t want me"
“Sometimes I felt like mum and dad didn’t want me, that I was a burden, rather than a help.”

School was a means to escape the hardships of home. The ten, long, muddy kilometres to school each day was treacherous and once through the school gates, things were seldom easier. The blur of blackboards, teachers and books was nothing compared to the cruel bullying at playtime.

“I couldn’t play with the other children because I would fall down or miss the ball, they would laugh at me. Eventually I just stopped playing.”

It was only when Edna Koros began to teach the shy, struggling girl that Chep found the life changing help she needed. “I noticed how she would turn her face to the wall and almost hide," says Edna. "And how she didn’t ever play with the other children.” Edna knew that Chep’s family were too poor to pay for medical treatment for their daughter, so she took her student to a project supported by Sightsavers to seek help herself.

With a straightforward cataract operation from Sightsavers, Chep was able to see the world around her for the first time in her life.

“When the bandages came off I simply gasped," she says. "I could see the trees outside, I could see everything. When they drove me home, I saw my mum and dad clearly for the first time in my life. My dad gave me a big hug and I cried.”

At school, life improved dramatically. With Edna’s help, the children began to treat their fellow student better. “I began to play with the other children,’ says Chep. “I could run without fear of falling.” Things aren’t perfect, Chep still struggles to see long distances and needs help to with her learning, but Edna ensures she has a student guide who helps with her reading.

Interestingly, it’s not just Chep’s life that has been transformed. “Chepngetich has done as much for me as I have done for her” says Edna. “She helped me to realise my calling, to become a special needs teacher, a job that I love and I thank her for that.”