Happy Belated International Women's Day!

Ari Aska of the Hamer tribe after successful cataract surgery

WEEMA wishes you a Happy belated International Women’s Day (March 8, 2020). In commemoration of this past Sunday, we wanted to share the beautiful story of one of our female patients from this year’s successful cataract campaign where we conducted more than 1000 surgeries in one week.  

 Ari Aska is a woman from the Hamer tribe of Ethiopia. The Hamer tribe live in Omo valley, about 115 km away from Kembata, where our cataract campaign was taking place. Ari was one of only four people from her tribe who decided to travel this far to get the cataract surgery. She lost sight in both her eyes many years ago, when her children were little. Now, when asked what she is most looking forward to, she said as she laughed “I can’t wait to go home and see how my children have changed. They will be so big now that I may not even recognize them after all these years.”  

 WEEMA is excited to see this campaign reaching people in isolated regions like the Omo valley. We hope to increase our cataract campaign accessibility for such communities in the future. 

Photo credit: Martha Tadesse (@Marthinolly)

Ari and other members of the Hamer tribe waiting to have their eye patches removed after surgery.

A Young Farmer's Journey to Regain His Sight

Mulatu Asefa with his vision restored!

WEEMA continues to celebrate our successful 2020 cataract campaign where we conducted surgeries for more than 1000+ patients. In the next few weeks, we’ll share a couple short stories to celebrate our patients’ journeys to regain sight: 

Mulatu Asefa is a young farmer in his early 30s. He lost sight in one of his eyes 6 years ago after suffering from an accident. He didn’t seek treatment for all these years because he thought his eye would heal on its own. He learned about how cataract is easily curable through a radio advertisement promoting our 2020 cataract campaign. He was ecstatic that this service was available and made the 2 hour trip to get this surgery. He is happy to be able to see with both eyes again, 6 years later.

The fear and lack of awareness around cataracts may often lead to patients with the easily curable case to not seek treatment. WEEMA is proud that this annual cataract campaign is not only organizing surgeries that can give back sight to the likes of Mulatu, but it is also raising awareness about cataracts and how it can easily be cured.

Asefa right before his cataract surgery

Asefa right after his cataract surgery

1054 Miracles

Joyous women celebrate with gift of sight with Dr. Matt Oliva

Last week, WEEMA held its 6th annual High Volume Cataract Surgical Campaign at Hosanna General Hospital in partnership with the Himalayan Cataract Project, Hadiya Zonal Health Department and Wachemo University.  During four busy and hectic days, over 1000 patients (1054 eyes to be exact) underwent cataract surgery.  These women, men and children had their lives- and dignity- transformed overnight.  Truly 1054 miracles. 

The video below shows the joy of sight.  Come dance with us! 

Over 1200 patients scheduled for cataract surgery!

Next week we will all be gathering at Hosanna General Hospital for the annual High Volume Cataract Surgical Campaign.  This will be our 6th campaign in partnership with the Himalayan Cataract Project and over 1200 patients have already been scheduled for surgery.

The photo above shows a crowd from one of the cataract screening events.  People learn about the screening by 4x4 vehicles driving through rural villages and blasting an announcement.  If interested in hearing what the announcement sounds like, click on the photo of the cars below.  

Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram as we will be posting regular updates from the campaign.

Thank you for supporting WEEMA- without you, this work would not be possible.

Patients gather at a Hadyia Health Center to be screened for cataract surgery.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO HEAR THE SCREENING ANNOUNCEMENT

(it will take you to a video)

Maternity Waiting Centers in Rural Ethiopia

Maternity Waiting Homes are a priority for the Ethiopian government.  Pregnant women frequently need to travel long distances or have complications that require them to stay near health centers when they begin labor.  Without a place to stay, women will often remain at home-- leading to increased risk of poor outcomes for both her and her newborn.

According to a 2019 article, "Ethiopia has been expanding maternity waiting homes to bridge geographical gaps between health facilities and communities in order to improve access to skilled care. In 2015, the Ministry of Health revised its national guidelines to standardize the rapid expansion of waiting homes...Health facilities with waiting homes had similar or lower rates of perinatal death and direct obstetric complication rates than facilities without a home. The perinatal mortality was 47% lower in hospitals with a home than those without. Similarly, the direct obstetric complication rate was 49% lower at hospitals with a home compared to hospitals without."

WEEMA worked with the local health department to finish construction and outfit the Maternity Waiting Centers at the three health centers in Tembaro District.  Having immediate access to safe, clean delivery services staffed by medical professionals will save the lives of moms and babies.

Thank you for supporting WEEMA- without you, this work would not be possible.

Recently constructed maternity waiting home in Tembaro, Ethiopia