Monday 13th August (Part 1)
An early start this morning, to drive to the Narsingdhi Lions Hospital. This is a comprehensive eye-care (CES) project, with two partners working together - the hospital and ABC (Assistance for Blind Children) who provide the community based rehabilitation (CBR) and education aspects. The CBR workers acted as outreach workers for the hospital, finding and following up patients as well as providing rehabilitation services.

We visited a number of beneficiaries, starting with a primary school where there were three blind children. The teacher had been trained to support blind children, and in addition there was a visually impaired CBR worker who acted rather like an itinerant teacher, focusing on helping the children with Braille.

We went on to meet Shariar Immon, a beneficiary of the Childhood Cataract Campaign, who could now read clearly and was attending school, Mr Shadek Mia, who had started a grocery shop since receiving CBR training, and Mr Iman Ali, who had a tea stall, and whose cataract operation had meant he could return to running it himself.

As always, it was good to meet people who directly benefit from the work our partners do, and to see that we do, indeed, transform lives.

ABC were involved with the setting up of local (pan) disability committees in line with the 2001 Disability Act. They were also setting up self help groups of visually impaired people and their families, both to support one another and to advocate for their rights with the government.