OUTREACH
A Journey of Hope in
TANZANIA
Matias, center, sits with his brother and sister-in-law at an eye care camp in Tanzania held by Moran’s Global Outreach Division.
Matias was a farmer, living with his wife in a village a few hours away from Dodoma, Tanzania. The couple had three children; each one died before reaching the age of three. Their mother, stricken by pneumonia, followed them in death. Then, in his 40s, Matias went blind. But he was lucky. In a society that often ignores people with disabilities, Matias had a loving big brother. Boniface took Matias into his home with his wife and five children on a few modest acres of corn. Boniface cared for his brother, bathing him and using a walking stick to lead him through the fields safely. Each moment, though willingly given by Boniface, took time away from fields that needed tending—the family’s only means of support. They had trouble getting ahead: Boniface always needed to save a little money to take care of his brother. 18
SEEKING HELP On one rainy April day, Boniface, his wife, and Matias set out on a four-hour walk of hope to the nearest village with health workers at a rudimentary clinic. They had heard American doctors from the Moran Eye Center’s Global Outreach Division would be there working with their Tanzanian partner surgeons. Matias shuffled quietly into a long line of patients, head held low. When spoken to, he seemed confused. Boniface would often repeat the doctor’s questions in his ear. Two circles of white completely clouded his eyes, and doctors confirmed they were dense cataracts, a natural clouding of the lens in the eye usually associated with aging. In the developing world, cataracts often occur earlier due to extreme sun exposure and malnutrition. The doctors said they could restore his sight, and Matias was anxious to have his life back. With the aid of a translator, he explained his blindness:
