A young girl from Mongolia smiles outside her home in a rural village in Mongolia

World Sight Month 2024: Marla can follow her dreams with brighter sight

This World Sight Month 2024, Orbis is asking our partners and supporters to join us in focusing on children’s eye health worldwide and giving every child the chance to love their eyes.

Love your Eyes campaign logo with Seymour the bear

Eye exams are important for catching issues early and keeping your eyes healthy. Unfortunately, not every child gets the chance to have one. Marla is one of the lucky ones whose vision problems were caught early, but her life could have been much different.

Like her mother, father, and maternal grandmother, she was born with congenital cataracts — a clouding of the eye’s natural lens that can render a child blind. Marla’s doctor urged her parents to take her to the National Center for Maternal and Child Health (NCMCH), an Orbis partner hospital in Ulaanbaatar, when Marla was just 19 days old.

At NCMCH, Dr. Shamsiya Murat examined her, confirmed the diagnosis, and knew she had to act quickly. If congenital cataracts aren’t treated when an infant is between six and eight weeks old, the child could suffer permanent vision loss.

Despite her family’s fears, Dr. Murat performed the surgery when Marla was 42 days old—becoming the youngest person in Mongolia at the time to have cataract surgery. Marla’s mother remembers that a few weeks after the procedure, her daughter looked toward her and started to make sounds, she knew that was the first time Marla could see her.

Image gallery: Meeting Marla months after her first surgery.

Marla’s mother had surgery for her condition when she was two years old, but it was too late to fully restore her sight. That’s why Marla’s grandmother was eager for her granddaughter to receive care immediately. She didn’t want the third generation of her family to struggle.

Thanks to Dr. Murat and the Orbis community, the surgery of newborn baby Marla was successful, but her eye care journey didn’t end there.

In the years after her very first surgery, it was critical that Marla visit Dr. Murat for regular eye examinations, have her prescriptions checked, and get her glasses fitted.

Image gallery: Marla has a follow-up appointment with Dr. Murat in 2020.

Dr. Murat recognized the need for Marla to have further surgery to protect her long-term vision so when she turned five years old, Marla had intraocular lens implants (an artificial lens that replaces the natural lens) in both eyes—a procedure that Marla needed but was too young to have initially.

To this day, Marla still needs to have regular check-ups and wear glasses to ensure her vision remains strong. However, she can now wear a weaker prescription and lightweight glasses.

Marla tells us that these current glasses are nicer when asked about them. When I show her the thick glasses, she says they're too heavy and uncomfortable. She’s so happy with her current glasses.” Dr Murat says.

In a reunion with Marla and her family last week, Marla’s grandmother remarked on just how far eye care in Mongolia has come in the years between her daughter’s and granddaughter’s births. That progress is evident in the world of opportunities that lie ahead for her grandaughter, Marla.

Now Marla is six years old and is looking forward to starting school in a few weeks. Marla’s mom says, “Marla is a very curious and creative child. I want her to pursue what she loves to do. I see already that she loves coloring, she loves design, she loves fashion, she loves sewing. I just want her to follow her dreams and be happy and pursue what she loves to do. I think this is very important.”

Image Gallery: The Orbis team visited Marla, now six years old, during our recent Flying Eye Hospital project in Mongolia.

Thank You for Showing Marla's Eyes Some Love!

We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone involved in Marla’s care over the last six years. From Dr. Murat, the dedicated eye specialist who has provided top-quality care to Marla, to the Orbis Volunteer Faculty who trained her, right through to you, our amazing supporters —without whom none of this would be possible.

A young girl from Mongolia makes a heart shape with her arms in a field of flowers

Marla has a brighter future ahead of her thanks to our supporters.

So, for World Sight Month 2024, we are calling on parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and caregivers of all sorts to book an eye test for a child you love— and donate to Orbis to help ensure another child like Marla can receive the eye care they deserve.

Donate this World Sight Month

Help more children like Marla see their dreams!

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