Fighting Trachoma

Dr. Sture and Eunice Nyholm are cbm co-workers working in Southern Sudan.

The Nyholms recently conducted an eye care outreach clinic in a remote rural area called Mayendit. There they were met by 900 people waiting for treatment - many of them children suffering from trachoma. This is Eunice’s account of the clinic, including an uplifting story of seven-year-old trachoma sufferer, Chabalwang.

“During our two weeks stay in Mayendit we see many children under ten years old with very severe trachoma infections. Many of them have to be operated on to prevent them becoming blind. One of them is sweet little Chabalwang just seven years old…Her mother tells me they walked for three days from their village to get to the clinic. She was forced to carry Chabalwang on her shoulders when they crossed through waist-deep swamps. Snakes are a big danger when walking in marshy areas. They were lucky to reach Mayendit without being bitten.

“Chabalwang is a brave little girl. After explaining to her about the surgery, that it can prevent her from becoming blind and that the pain from the eyelashes will disappear after surgery, she allows us to operate on her under local anesthesia. We are happy! Using general anesthesia in the bush without proper facilities and equipment is really a big risk for the patient. Chabalwang is lying still on the couch, holding two sweets in her hand. She will enjoy her "limlim" (sweets) after the operation. The operation on both eyes takes about half an hour. Tetracycline ointment is put on the wounds, then a pad and finally a bandage is put around her little head. I can see her sitting blindfolded outside the surgery hut, enjoying her sweets.

“Early the following morning, Chabalwang is back at the clinic with her mother. She has not been sleeping very well, but the painkillers she was given the day before have kept the pain away. We remove the bandage and the pads carefully. She is not crying. Her eyelids look good. She is given tubes of tetracycline ointment to be applied each morning and evening after washing her face. Her mother is listening carefully to the health education advice during the ward round. We ask them to return the following day for a last check up. Chabalwang walks away without her mother’s supporting hands. She is busy removing the paper from her sweets.

“During ward rounds we try to answer all of the patients’ questions about trachoma. It is so important for them to know that trachoma can be prevented through good hygiene. Wash your face morning and evening every day; try to keep your environment clean; build pit latrines or try at least to bury/cover the stools! Keep the cattle away from where you live: this will reduce the number of flies, the vectors spreading trachoma. The same information is repeated day after day for all the patients, but it is difficult for many to believe what we are telling them; it is difficult to change cultural thinking. Many still believe that it is "the evil eye", a curse, or even God who has put the disease on them.

“But many people have been told the truth about trachoma. We hope that they trust us, and that they spread the information to their families, friends and village members. We hope that a change can take place for a better future for the people of Southern Sudan. We believe that the change will start through the children.”

For further information on trachoma, please contact:

Lindsay O'Connor
Public Relations Manager, cbm Canada
Toll Free: 1-800-567-2264 or (905) 640-6464 x289
loconnor@cbmcanada.org