Little Meskenem is just four years old. When we first meet her, she is clinging tightly to her older brother, Gabriel’s, hand as she walks into the screening room at Karat District Hospital. Her eyes are red-rimmed, and teary, and she rubs them constantly. She looks uncomfortable.
Although it is specifically a cataract-screening program, Mr Tilahun the cataract surgeon, runs a quick check-up. Her brother explains that she has had lots of tearing and discharge, and that it is very itchy for her; which is why she can’t stop touching her eyes. She has been like this for a year.