Trachoma made every blink agony for Semira
Semira had endured the agony of trachoma for two years.
“Every blink felt like a stab,” she recalls. Semira hoped the pain would subside, but it only increased.
As a young mother, Semira feared for her future and that of her children.
With limited access to clean water and healthcare, millions of people, especially women and children, are at risk of this infectious disease in Ethiopia's Oromia region.
The idea of blindness terrified Semira, but she didn’t know help was an option. Semira continued to provide for her family, facing day after day of agonising pain.
Thankfully an outreach team from the Oromia Regional Health Bureau found Semira and her mother-in-law Hadha, who also had trachoma.
The outreach team, trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation, provided Semira the life-changing surgery she needed. Your caring support covered the costs, sparing her from lifelong blindness.
Without kindness like yours, Semira might still be suffering. costs of surgery, as well as travel costs to the hospital.
Please give today to help people like Semira before it's too late.
Semira's fear turned to hope
When Semira feared losing her sight, she worried about her family’s future.
“Who would take care of my children if I became blind from this disease?”
Living in a region with poor sanitation, trachoma spread easily, leaving many like Semira in pain. Eye surgery seemed like an unreachable dream for Semira.
“I felt trapped, believing blindness was my fate,” she admits.
Trachoma, unlike cataracts, can cause permanent blindness. After repeated infection, the eyelids turn inward and scratch the cornea. But thanks to you, Semira was spared from this fate.
Trachoma holds families back. We must act now.
Ethiopia’s Oromia region faces the world’s highest burden of trachoma, holding its people back. With your help, The Fred Hollows Foundation is working to make eye health care accessible to all.
Ethiopia needs your support
In Oromia, where over 63 million people are at risk, access to eye health services is limited. In areas with poor sanitation, trachoma spreads rapidly, affecting people’s opportunities to work, go to school and provide for their family. Those who don’t receive help face a lifetime of blindness. But with your gift today, there is hope. Your support can help break the cycle of poverty and disease.
Education is key
In many communities, a lack of education means that people are unaware that trachoma is treatable. For many families, the disease is unavoidable, preventing them from seeking timely treatment. Educating communities about eye health empowers individuals to prevent the devastating effects of trachoma.
Women and girl's futures are at risk
Mothers are more likely to develop repeated infections from their children, and women are four times more likely to go blind from trachoma than men. Women and girls are most often carers for infected or blind relatives, which also means they are unable to earn an income or go to school to get an education. You can help women like Semira get the support they urgently need.
With your help there is hope for Ethiopia
Your kind gift today will shape Ethiopia’s future. With your help, community health workers can continue their sight-saving work.
On the day of Semira’s surgery, she was anxious. This was her chance for a better life.
Thanks to your kindness, Semira now sees clearly. Her relief and gratitude were immense.
"Now I can see my children’s smiles again.”
Today, Semira is thriving. She cares for her children and supports her family. Her and her children’s future is bright.
“I feel like a curse has been lifted.”
Your kind gift today will help save sight in Ethiopia in 2024, enabling us to:
- Distribute antibiotics to more than 5.5 million people to treat the pain and prevent ongoing trachoma infections
- Perform sight-saving surgery for more than 34,000 people
- Continue to implement the World Health Organization’s S.A.F.E. (surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, environmental improvements) strategy to eliminate blindness from trachoma
Will you help carry on Fred's vision?
Fred Hollows dedicated much of his life’s work to fight trachoma.
Fred and Gabi started The National Trachoma and Eye Health Program in 1975, in an effort to eliminate trachoma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
“It is scandalous that these nineteenth century diseases of poverty should continue,” Fred said in 1974.
With your help today, Fred’s work for a trachoma free future can continue beyond Australia.
Every year, thousands of people like Semira endure trachoma in Ethiopia. We must act now to save sight.
You can help us get one step closer to achieving Fred’s dream of eliminating trachoma and ending avoidable blindness.
Fred Hollows examining the eyes of school children during The National Trachoma and Eye Health Program in the 1970s.
