 | Meet Gerald. He is "top boy" in his class, and the pride and joy of the Sparrow Fund, Omiyo's child sponsorship program, which is improving education for orphans and vulnerable children in and around Gulu, Uganda. He's first in his class in spite of the fact that he is blind in his left eye, the result of a failed cataract surgery a few years ago. Gerald's parents both died when he was young, and he and his brothers and sisters have been raised by his very old grandmother in a mud hut compound in the village. |
Gerald was doing so well in the village school, where he was one of 100 children in a class, that we decided to transfer him to a simple boarding school, where the education is much better. He has continued to achieve good grades at his new school.
When I visited his school in April, he shyly approached me, and I had to lean down to understand that he was asking me to thank his sponsor for paying his school fees. I asked him how it was with his eyes these days, and he told me he was feeling some pain in his good eye, hopefully just from the stress of having to do all the work. After doing some research, I learned that a failed cataract surgery can sometimes be reversed. Also that there are only 34 ophthalmologists in the whole country of Uganda, most of whom work in Kampala, the capital, a seven-hour bus ride from Gerald's small village in northern Uganda.
We've decided to take Gerald to Kampala for treatment during his school break. We will need to travel to Kampala and stay a few days, then will need to keep him in a sanitary place until his eye heals, so that it won't become infected, as it did before. And of course, we will need to pay for the surgery. Since our sponsorship fees are only $20, which just barely covers his schooling, we need to raise some money to pay for everything. If you would like to help save Gerald's sight, please go to our GoFundMe Campaign, where we have already raised $420 of the $1,500 we estimate we'll need to fully pay for the extra expense.
Gerald wants to be a pilot, and with good sight, he can probably achieve that goal, or any other. Please help this bright, humble guy fly.
When I visited his school in April, he shyly approached me, and I had to lean down to understand that he was asking me to thank his sponsor for paying his school fees. I asked him how it was with his eyes these days, and he told me he was feeling some pain in his good eye, hopefully just from the stress of having to do all the work. After doing some research, I learned that a failed cataract surgery can sometimes be reversed. Also that there are only 34 ophthalmologists in the whole country of Uganda, most of whom work in Kampala, the capital, a seven-hour bus ride from Gerald's small village in northern Uganda.
We've decided to take Gerald to Kampala for treatment during his school break. We will need to travel to Kampala and stay a few days, then will need to keep him in a sanitary place until his eye heals, so that it won't become infected, as it did before. And of course, we will need to pay for the surgery. Since our sponsorship fees are only $20, which just barely covers his schooling, we need to raise some money to pay for everything. If you would like to help save Gerald's sight, please go to our GoFundMe Campaign, where we have already raised $420 of the $1,500 we estimate we'll need to fully pay for the extra expense.
Gerald wants to be a pilot, and with good sight, he can probably achieve that goal, or any other. Please help this bright, humble guy fly.
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