Jessica lives in a remote village called ku Mubuga in Ngozi province in the northern part of Burundi. At birth, her mother welcomed her with joyously. At only three months, her mother came to the realization that she could not see. She had a strange mass in both her eyes. Her mother struggled to care for her. She managed to bring her to the nearest health center and hospitals but there were no specialists. A farmer depending on meager funds to raise her children, Jessica’s mum had no means to go to Bujumbura to see an ophthalmologist.

Jessica had never been able to see anything with both eyes. Her cataracts made her self-conscious and painfully shy and hindered her development. Her mother was later informed that there is center that treats children with eyesight issues at no cost. When she finally arrived at CTSOE, Jessica was diagnosed with bilateral cataract and was therefore scheduled for surgery.

As she waited for her child to come out of surgery, Jessica’s mum has a mixture of feeling; hope and fear. Fear because she has never sent a child to the surgery room and hope as she was confident that the child will recover her sight.

When the doctor announced that the surgery had gone successfully, Jessica’s mum could not hide her joy. With tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, she exclaims “To God be the glory, my daughter has been saved.”