27 months.: Trachoma Surgeries: An unforgettable 2 days

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Last week during a 2-day event, the Mezezo Health Center provided free trachoma surgery to the Mezezo community and the surrounding rural areas. It was a wonderful opportunity for community members suffering from trachoma. The surgery reversed the trachoma before it caused serious visual impairment and blindness.

What is trachoma?

Trachoma is a disease that is transmitted by flies, dirty hands or dirty cloths that have bacteria and that come into contact with someone’s eyes. The signs and symptoms include inflammation and over time, scarring of the inner eyelid, due to the eyelashes turning inward and scratching the cornea. Eventually it can lead to visual impairment and blindness. Prevention of trachoma includes antibiotics, washing your face with soap and water, and keeping your environment clean, therefore minimizing the amount of flies. Surgery is also a way of preventing trachoma from progressing to eventual visual impairment and blindness.

The day prior to the event, we decorated the Health Center with banners and flags, made posters, and set up a stereo system. In addition, massive amounts of food were prepared (injera and lentils), rooms were cleaned, tools were sterilized, and the surgery rooms were prepared.

Patients rest for a few minutes after surgery before making their way to the resting room.

On Friday morning when the patients arrived at the Health Center (most from very rural areas surrounding Mezezo), they first went through a screening process to see if they qualified for the surgery. If the trachoma if severe enough that the patients’ eyelashes have turned inward, they qualify for surgery). Then they proceed to the surgery area, where my job was to pass out numbers based on who arrived first and then guide them to the surgery room as the surgeons were ready.


Community members waited for the screening process.

The surgery room.

Five people received surgery at one time, since five surgeons that came for this 2-day event. Each surgery took approximately 10-20 minutes, and the patients did not feel any pain during the surgery because of the use of local anesthesia. At the end of the surgery, the patients were given medicine to take home, and all the medicine and services were free of charge.

A woman comforts her friend during the trachoma surgery.

This was my first time seeing trachoma patients as well as trachoma surgery. The surgery was utterly amazing to watch (and at first very hard to watch/graphic!). After a local anesthetic was given through a shot, the eyelid is flipped upward and sliced with a sharp blade, pried open with scissors, and then the eyelid was stitched to the newly cut part of the eyelid. The final step is to squeeze medicine in the eye before closing it and putting on a gauze bandage. I helped with this step a few times, and then explained to the patients how and when to take the medicine.

Trachoma surgery in action.

Most of the patients (90%) only had surgery on one of their eyes, but some had surgery on both of their eyes. One older gentlemen had both of his eyes done, and after his surgery, with bandages over both of his eyes, I supported him with my arms and guided him down a rocky path to the resting room. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been; for 24 hours he had both eyes bandaged shut, and only in the morning he was able to see if he had his sight (which he did, and he recovered very well!)!

After the surgery, the patients rested on mattresses in a resting room at the Health Center, and then were fed lunch and coffee. They stayed there through the night, then in the morning they had their bandages taken of and were able to return to their homes.


After surgery, the patients enjoyed injera and lentils for lunch.

A staff member assist a patient to the resting room after she had surgery.

This 2-day event was one of my favorite health outreach programs in Mezezo so far. I learned a great deal during those 2 days, and was inspired both by the surgeons and the courage of the patients, but also was inspired to further educate the community regarding personal and environmental sanitation to hopefully decreases the incidence of trachoma in the Mezezo community!

And an update on the public latrine: so much progress has been made! These men sure are quick and very skilled workers and have quite an efficient system!