Getting the gift of sight

KIRIBATI, South Tarawa : Nawere and Timwia, both in their 70s, giggle like teenagers when asked what they like about one another.

Married for 50 years, Timwia is quick to respond. "I like his eyes," she says immediately. "But also his appearance down below."

Laughter erupts from onlookers who have gathered around our interview. Nawere, embarrassed, shakes his head while giving his outspoken wife a slight tap on the bottom.
It's a moment of joy, rare joy. Behind this joy and laughter lies a sad story.

Both Nawere and Timwia are blind. They are stricken by dense cataracts both developed two years ago, they say.

Life is challenging. "We can't do anything anymore," says Timwia. "If you want to go somewhere, you can't go. If you want to do something, you can't do it."

"We are lucky that we can, at least, hear and feel one another," Nawere adds.

Crammed into a manaeba, an open meeting house, in the capital of Kiribati (pronounced 'Kiribas') South Tarawa, Timwia and Nawere share one toilet and a bucket of water with hundreds of other blind patients.

They have all converged hopefully from the outer islands, by boat or plane funded by the Kiribati government.

They are here for one thing: to get their sight back.

Limited by medical resources and access to eye care, they are waiting for a team of eye doctors and nurses from the Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand.

Some families have been waiting here for months.

The eight-strong team will arrive from the Foundation-funded Pacific Eye Institute in Suva, Fiji, on one of only two weekly flights that link Kiribati to the rest of the world.

They will restore the sight of 178 people in the next five days - a record-breaking amount of surgeries they will perform during their outreach.

The Fred Hollows Foundation carries on the groundbreaking work of the late Professor Fred Hollows who travelled to remote countries like Kiribati to help the needlessly blind get their sight back.

The surgery only costs $25.

Both Nawere and Timwia are undergoing the surgery at the same time. Unfazed by the prospects, Nawere says he would like to see the world again.

For Timwia, the answer is clear. "I like to see Nawere's eyes again," she smiles.

The surgery takes 20 minutes per eye, removes their dense cataracts and ends with the insertion of a new lens which costs only $4 to produce.

After a night of recovery and in anticipation, Timwia and Nawere get their bandages removed at the same time.

They look at each other clearly for the first time in two years. "He is so handsome," Timwia says looking lovingly into Nawere's eyes.

"She's prettier and prettier," Nawere adds.

Laughter fills the room, patients chuckle away at the cute loving couple.

"I'm so happy," Timwia says. "Now I can see where he goes."

"We are so humbled and grateful," a happy Nawere says. "We would like to thank the New Zealand donors for the assistance they have given us old people."

An old lady sitting next to Nawere and Timwia suddenly says naughtily "now you can see each other clearly at night".

Laughter from other patients erupts again. Nawere, embarrassed yet again, says a quiet 'yes' before smiling away.

Nawere and Timwia laugh again like excited young teenagers, but this time they know life is a little less challenging.