Create brighter futures for kids everywhere

At Orbis partner hospital, the National Center for Maternal and Child Health, a few anxious mums awaiting the results of their babies’ Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) screenings. If not treated timely, ROP can cause lifelong blindness. The fact that Mongolia has just one specialist ROP screening machine for its millions of people underlines the severe eye care crisis here.

Time is crucial for visually impaired youngsters to discover their world. Esujin’s mother brought her to the country’s only hospital capable of conducting ROP screenings, where 83-day-old Esujin received life-changing surgery.

In Mongolia, ROP screening was neglected but Orbis has joined forces with the government and begun training doctors, bringing hope to worried mothers and their precious babies in recent years.

Our journey to Mongolia’s under-developed Central Province took several hours. As many parents here pack their children off to boarding school, teachers face huge added responsibilities. While clear vision is essential for learning, this region has a serious shortage of ophthalmologists and even fewer well-trained optometrists.

Our arrival coincided with local teachers’ first eye screening session for their students, the majority of whose sight had never been checked before. Their eyes sparkled with curiosity yet I caught many looking to me for reassurance. Almost half of those screened – many of them already aged 12 – had refractive errors that hampered their health and academic performance.

Sadly, Central Province has only two ophthalmologists – not nearly enough to meet the needs of local students. Fortunately, Orbis is now working with schools all over Mongolia, training teachers to conduct vision screening to address fundamental needs.

The story of Gan-Ochir who lives near a rugged path with his mum still burns brightly. Having learned his two-month-old son was suffering from glaucoma, cataracts, and eyelid entropion, Gan’s dad abandoned his wife to face the challenges alone.

Gan’s condition caused him excruciating pain and left him bedridden and depressed. Refusing to buckle under the weight of so much tragedy, his mum accompanied him to over 10 surgeries for 14 years. Thankfully, advanced surgical techniques eventually helped stabilize Gan’s condition.

While I spoke with Gan, he suddenly burst into tears, believing that his visual impairment had caused his parents' split and greatly added to his mum’s burden.