Featured Patient Story: Seng Phal

Seva's Director of Development, Julie Nestingen, met 80-year-old patient, Seng Phal, at a recent Seva-sponsored eye camp in a rural area near Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Unable to see, Seng Phal arrived in the arms of her daughter, Path.

Mature cataracts in both eyes had left Seng blind and fearful of walking on her own. Path carried her mother in her arms everywhere, just as her mother once did for her when she was a child.

Getting her mother up and down the high steps leading to their typical Cambodian house, raised on stilts some 20 feet above the land to keep them dry during the monsoon season, is an extra burden that path says "has strained her heart."  

Not carrying her mother would never be an option, as is evidenced by the tenderness and care Path dotes on her mother.

Day 1 at the Seva surgical camp, Seng is examined by an ophthalmologist and diagnosed to have a cataract in each eye, as well as some corneal scarring. She is scheduled for surgery that same day and the cataract in her right eye is removed. They will wait until tomorrow to perform surgery on her left eye.

Day 2 the patch is removed from the right eye and it is discovered that due to corneal scarring, Seng has only limited peripheral vision in that eye. A disappointment to both daughter and mother, but they are hopeful vision in her left eye will be able to be restored after the second cataract is removed.  

Day 3 After the eye patch covering Seng's left eye is removed it is revealed that her vision in this eye has greatly improved. Seng is immediately able to see well enough that she begins walking on her own again, a huge relief for both Seng and her daughter.

For the first time since meeting Seng, we see a bright smile appear on her face. 

Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, Seva's programs have restored sight to 3.7 million people, just like Seng, who were in need around the globe.

Seva's programs are particularly important in places like Cambodia, a country with only 43 eye surgeons and a population of over 14 million people - a large number of whom live in poverty, without access to even the most basic of eye care services.

With a focus on sustainability, Seva is working to build the capacity of local communities to provide vital sight-saving eye care services to the poor. But we need your help.

Join us, and together, we can prevent more women like Seng from having to suffer from blindness that can be so easily prevented or cured >