o r b i s

Hlume Ndum-ndum is 5 years old. He has a squint that is busy being corrected.

Zahra Schuller is three years old. She came in with her mother to be examined and get new glasses. She is squint but her squintness keeps switching eyes.

Imaan and Ilhaan Abrahams are almost identical twins who came in with their father Shaheen Abrahams. They are both 4 years old. The one is squint and the other has a lazy eye. Dr Rhian Grotte is doing the examining.


Shaqiel Jacobs, a baby of 5 months old, has a cataract on his lens and this was removed. It is a genetic fault that runs in the family, his brother had the same problem. The baby is put to sleep in the arms of the parent, in this case the father, to cause as little trauma as possible. The operation was performed by Dr Jill de Villiers who was 8 and a half months pregnant at the time. The operating team was not able to insert an artificial lens because the baby’s eyes are still growing. For now the baby has to wear a contact lens but when the child is about two years old an artificial lens will be put in for the child. The baby is operated at such a young age in order to prevent him from going blind. If the eyesight is obstructed by a cataract, at this developmental stage, the brain does not develop vital connections to the eye causing blindness. Even if the sight in the eye is improved at a later stage – the brain connections are needed in order to see. The operation was a success.

Asive Tsewu is 5 years old. This is her second visit to the eye clinic. She is squint and the doctors are working to correct this problem. Her mother explained why Asive is so upset, she saw a programme on television the previous day where a little girl had an operation. She cried when she saw the programme on TV. When she came to the hospital that morning, she thought she too would have an operation. This time she was only examined as the doctors are still assessing her situation.

Xavier Oosthuizen is three years old. He is squint and can see far away but not close up. He is a brave and spirited little boy and chose to show it with a thumbs up sign.

Ziyanda Makeleni is one year and ten months old. He has a cataract on his eye.

 

The photographs were taken at The Red Cross Children’s Hospital Eye Clinic in Cape Town who is to partner ORBIS to improve paediatric eye care in Sub-Saharan Africa.

all images copyright of Kali van der Merwe

ORBIS is a global development organisation, dedicated to preserving and restoring the sight of the poorest people in the poorest communities across the world. Through innovative training programmes and partnerships, ORBIS creates long-term, lasting solutions to prevent and cure blindness worldwide.

Learn more about ORBIS at www.orbis.org.uk

  • ORBIS prevents and treats blindness by providing quality eye care to transform lives
  • ORBIS envisions a world in which no one is needlessly blind, where quality eye care, education and treatment are available to every human being.
  • ORBIS serves as a catalyst to stimulate the development of sustainable eye care services and improve the quality and accessibility of eye care in those parts of the world where the need is greatest, through training eye care personnel and strengthening the capacity of in-country eye care institutions and services.