Case Studies

Sokunvortey is 15 and studies at a high school in a community a short distance from Phnom Penh. She is a keen student but over the last three years, seeing the whiteboard had become more difficult and she noticed she could not recognize her friends from a distance.

Habib is a 13-year-old boy who lives in a village called Khalishapur in northern Bangladesh. He is one of five children in a very poor family. Although Habib’s parents own their simple house, they have no land for cultivating rice or other crops. Habib and his father and brothers must find whatever work they can.

Finan is in her second year of studying for her diploma in the Asmara College of Health Sciences optometry program. The program forms part of a five-year project which aims to contribute to the development of optometry in Eritrea.

Sabbir is a 6-year-old boy in first grade at his local government primary school in rural Bangladesh. Sabbir’s father has a tree nursery and earns just enough to feed the family. Sabbir is the only son in the family, so his parents had high expectations of him doing well at school.

After a long ambition to pursue a career within the medical sciences, Samuel Chagwadira became one of Malawi’s first ever optometrists in 2012. Samuel, along with four of his classmates, was among the very first graduates from the Malawi School of Optometry at Mzuzu University.

Mrs. Liyanage is the sole carer for her ailing husband. Her eyesight is vital in ensuring her and her husband have food and are safe. Her vision was causing her problems. She was struggling to see well enough to effectively take care of her husband and complete household chores.