Many youngsters in Dalian’s rural outskirts are condemned to suffer from cataracts because of their local medical infrastructure’s inadequate eye care knowledge and treatment facilities. Only able to see blurry images of his mother’s finger movements inches in front of his face, Qingyi was one of them. ORBIS and its partner, the Standard Chartered Bank are now bringing hope in sight for people like Qingyi at their Seeing is Believing project in Dalian.

Qingyi’s life-transforming walk out of darkness

Qingyi lives in rual China

Born with blindness-causing binocular congenital cataracts, 6-year-old Tian Qingyi’s entire world used to consist of a small room in Wang Waizi village in northern China. Until ORBIS and its donors came to his rescue, Qingyi was only able to see blurry images of his mother’s finger movements inches in front of his face.

Just after his first birthday, Qingyi underwent unsuccessful surgery at a local countryside hospital. Sadly, the poor medical service not only failed to restore his sight but also left him with after-cataract syndrome. Undeterred, the boy’s family sought treatment at surrounding hospitals. Considering pediatric cataract surgery to be a high risk and ignoring the fact that amblyopia must be cured during childhood, each facility suggested delaying surgery until Qingyi grew up. As a result of their son’s low vision, Qingyi’s desperate parents had to keep him locked in his room to prevent him harming himself by walking into obstacles outside. Qingyi spent the next several years with only the wind outside his window as his playmate.

Qingyi and his father

Through its Seeing is Believing project partner initiative, ORBIS is working with local hospitals to transform children like Qingyi’s lives. When they heard of Qingyi’s heartbreaking plight, well trained doctors in Dalian performed systematic surgical treatment that gave the boy his dream of sight. Seeing his Mum’s and Dad’s faces clearly for the first time, Qingyi’s life was totally transformed. His favorite game while he recovered was to identify the cars which rarely visited his village that drove past outside his hospital ward windows. His Dad summed up our donors’ kindness when he said, “With our son’s vision restored, our family has regained its hope of life.

A brighter future starts with sighted childhood
8-year old Qu Fujun of Anbo Town in Pulandian City near Dalian comes from a peasant family which works a 5-acre farm to feed their two children and grandparents.

Fujun and her little brother

Little Fujun has been blind with binocular congenital cataracts since she was 4. Aware that eye diseases were difficult and costly to cure, Fujun’s parents did not seek treatment for their daughter. Instead, they took advantage of the guaranteed social subsidies offered by Fujun’s Disabled Person’s Certificate to bypass China’s strict one child per family law and legally have a second child. With a newly born son to care for, the family had even less money to spend on Fujun’s surgery.

Day after day, Fujun sat on her bed enviously listening to the neighborhood children as they cheerfully made their way to school. While able to hear her baby brother, she never saw the encouraging smiles of her grandparents who stayed at home to look after her.

Fujun prepares the future at home

When ORBIS and its local Seeing is Believing partner visited the area, Fujun’s Dad brought her to the outreach camp to see if she would be lucky enough to be examined or receive low-cost surgery. As Fujun’s long overdue treatment necessitated more complex surgery to cure her serious strabismus, the hospital’s well-trained medical director came back from vacation to operate on her. Happily, the procedure was a total success. Just a day after her surgery,little Fujun happily told her carers she couldn’t wait to go to school and make friends with the local kids she used to listen to while blind.

No more “no sight for an old man”
83-year-old Zhang Shouchun of An Bo Town, Pulandian City has faced misfortune all his life.

Dr. Fang Shifeng examines Shouchun’s eyes during the community screening

Suffering the debilitating effects of long-term diabetes and malnutrition, Shouchun’s wife has been paralyzed and bedridden for years. Having steadfastly borne all of his family’s burdens, luck dealt Shouchun another cruel blow when his sight in both eyes started ebbing away. Totally friendless and helpless, the old man just did he and his wife’s housework and cooking, planting vegetables in their barren, stone-filled garden to try and improve their lot in life.

Knowing that he and his wife’s slender income had to be saved for more urgent needs, Shouchun never sought surgery. It was only when ORBIS and its Seeing is Believing partner’s doctors saw him during a screening session that he agreed to have his vision checked. He was promptly identified as suffering from cataracts with intraocular inflammation which was in urgent need of surgery.

Shouchun recovers from his cataract surgery at Dalian He Eye Hospital

Because of the Zhangs’ poverty, it was decided that the cost of Shouchun’s surgery would be subsidized by Seeing is Believing. The old man ultimately received his surgery plus follow-up eye drops and regular eye checks free of charge. Within just two months, his intraocular inflammation had been effectively controlled. With his vision restored, Shouchun stepped into his tiny yard, looked at the plants and murmured quietly “Oh, it’s all so messed up!”