<Full Article> https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/14371904
International : General International News
Congolese Girl Regains Her Sight: “Matondo Korea”
JoongAng Ilbo | Updated April 11, 2014, 11:48
Reporter Kim Seong-ryong
Kinshasa — Reporter Kim Seong-ryong
Nine days after undergoing cataract surgery, Ambena, second from the right in the lower row, posed with her family on March 15 holding a sign that read, “Thank you, Korea (Merci, Corée).” Her maternal grandmother, on the right, also underwent cataract surgery. On the left is Ambena’s mother, Tomba. The other children are her cousins. [Photo: Good People]
On March 6, more than 30 patients were seated in a line at Nilgalema National Hospital in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), waiting to undergo cataract surgery. Among them was six-year-old Ambena Grace.
Ambena had suffered from cataracts since birth. She had never clearly seen her mother’s face or even her own reflection in a mirror. Although she had started school, she could not see the writing on the blackboard and therefore could not read. Her days continued without hope, as if she were constantly wandering through a thick haze.
Then hopeful news reached Tomba, 43, Ambena’s mother, who had long been distressed by her daughter’s inability to see. The Good People Global Blindness Prevention Team, an international relief and development NGO from Korea that provides free cataract surgery, had arrived in Kinshasa, just 15 minutes from their village.
Born in a country of extreme poverty, where 50 million people—75 percent of the population—live on less than one U.S. dollar a day, Ambena had never been able to receive proper medical treatment. Although there was a national hospital, it lacked both doctors capable of performing cataract surgery and the necessary equipment.
Considering the poor medical conditions in DR Congo, the blindness prevention team brought approximately 650 kilograms of equipment from Korea, including surgical microscopes and monitors. A team of more than 20 ophthalmologists, optometrists, nurses, pharmacists, interpreters, and other staff performed cataract surgery on 61 patients over two days, March 5 and 6.
Ambena’s surgery was performed by Dr. Gyung Bai Choi of JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic. Surgery on both eyes was successfully completed.
Dr. Choi said, “It is tragic for people to spend their entire lives with physical difficulties simply because they were born in a poor country and could not receive proper medical care. I am simply grateful that we are able to give them hope.”
After waking from anesthesia, Ambena repeatedly exclaimed, “Matondo Korea, Matondo Good People!” (“Matondo” means “thank you” in Lingala, a local language of DR Congo.)
“If I can see clearly, I want to study hard and become a doctor who can help other people,” she said, smiling brightly and revealing the gap where her front teeth had fallen out.
The Good People Global Blindness Prevention Team examines Ambena’s eyes before cataract surgery. [Reporter Kim Seong-ryong]
Since 2001, Good People has provided free cataract surgery in developing countries including the Philippines, Mongolia, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands. To date, the organization has helped restore sight to 1,682 people through 26 overseas surgical missions in 10 countries, including DR Congo.
Good People Chairman Ahn Jung-bok said, “We hope that the residents who receive cataract surgery will not only regain their eyesight, but will also be able to see their dreams and hopes for the future more clearly.”
About 10 days after her surgery, Ambena sent a letter and photograph to the Good People team after they had returned to Korea.
“My surgery went well and I am recovering. I can even read the small print on the calendar hanging on the wall. I am grateful to the Korean medical team,” the letter said.
