Photo: Sophie Neiman.
Patients relax while waiting for checkups at Dr. Gladys Atto’s eye clinic, Oct. 27, 2023, in a remote part of northeastern Uganda.
Service to others can make a certain kind of person very happy.
Consider eye doctor Gladys Atto and the free eye care she provides in rural Uganda.
Sophie Neiman has her story at the Monitor Daily: “Gladys Atto settles into a chair in her sparsely furnished office and rests her feet for a moment. It is only a few hours past midday; she is tired, but there is little time to relax. Already today, the young ophthalmologist has removed cataracts from five patients’ eyes so they can see again. Another six surgeries are scheduled before evening.
“Dr. Atto is the first and only ophthalmologist in Karamoja, a remote region the size of Belgium in the northeastern corner of Uganda. For the nearly 1.2 million people who live here, life is ruled by extremes. The climate is harsh; the sun hot. Rain rarely falls, making it hard to grow enough crops.
“During the long dry periods, nomadic Karamojong pastoralists migrate over the scorched earth with their cows, searching for grass and water. In 2019, the region was hit hard by a surge of cattle rustling. Armed raiders roamed among thorny livestock pens and stole animals from their neighbors, hoping thefts would bring in the money they needed to survive.
“In these rugged areas, access to Western-style health care is rare. The hospital where Dr. Atto works is one of just five in the extensive region, and the only one capable of providing specialized services. Travel is difficult, but especially so for those who are unwell: Long distances are traveled on foot along rough dirt roads, or in crowded public cars.
“The care Dr. Atto provides is free of charge, but the cost of transport is out of reach for many in Karamoja, which is Uganda’s poorest region.
“ ‘They are resilient,’ Dr. Atto says of the community she serves. ‘That is all I can say.’
“Dr. Atto learned her own tenacity at a young age, growing up during the government’s conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda. Over the course of some three decades, Joseph Kony recruited thousands of child soldiers to serve in his fearsome guerrilla group.
“ ‘That time was a scary moment, but I believe that it built me up,’ she recalls. …
“As a child, Dr. Atto knew that she wanted to be a doctor. She loved science, and hoped to do some good in the world. Interning as a doctor in her home city of Gulu, she saw how few eye specialists there were in Uganda. Without a permanent ophthalmologist in the public hospital, patients seeking care were sent away until a specialist from Kampala, the country’s capital, could visit and offer eye care. …
“A telephone conversation during her studies with the director of a hospital in Karamoja revealed that there had never been an eye doctor permanently posted there. She offered her services full time. The director accepted. …
“Dr. Atto loaded everything she owned into a truck and made the 12-hour journey to her new posting. …
“When she arrived five years ago, the eye care unit was just two rooms. There was nowhere for patients to recover, so they often took to sleeping in the grassy courtyard. Specialty equipment was gathering dust; staff had not yet been trained on how to use it.
“An international nongovernmental organization, Sight Savers, stepped in to sponsor Dr. Atto’s work in Karamoja. It also helped in the construction of a new eye clinic … and trained half a dozen staff members. …
“Ensuring these patients can see again is [nurse] Susan Niyigena’s favorite part of her job. ‘The eyes are the window to the beautiful things which are in the world. The environment, the people.’ …
“Sight is vital to the livelihoods of farmers and pastoralists in Karamoja, so Dr. Atto and her team run mobile eye clinics, traveling to rural villages. Hot wind whirls red dust into the air as they meet patients who cannot make it to the hospital in Moroto. …
“Whenever she can on these trips, Dr. Atto focuses on women, who bear the brunt of feeding and caring for their families. ‘If you want an improvement in any area of life, economically, socially, everything, a woman needs to be able to see,’ Dr. Atto says.”
More at the Monitor, here. No paywall.
(I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that if you live or travel in a part of the world the mainstream media doesn’t cover and you like to write, the Monitor might accept an article from you. Ask them.)
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 