Dreamland Mission Hospital
Eye Clinic
Providing services that truly benefit and transform the lives of the poorest and hardest to reach communities.
Patients helped
Sight Surgeries per month
Life Changing Eye Care & Surgery
The DMH eye clinic and surgery currently provides eye services to approximately 300 people and at least 40 sight-restoring and sight-saving surgeries a month. The clinic is based at Dreamland Mission Hospital in Kimilili, an area where half the population lives on less than £1.50 a day.
The basic cost of the surgery is £40 per eye. £92 will cover the surgical cost per eye as well as the initial consultation, an overnight stay in hospital following surgery, follow-up appointments and all associated costs including staff wages. Patients who can afford it pay £10 (1350ksh) towards the cost of their treatment. Annually we do approximately 480 cataract surgeries.
Who we help
This project focuses on the elderly with the majority of services being provided to an older population. This population is poor but often key to the running of family units in Kenya. If they lose their sight there can be a huge knock-on impact on the whole family. For example, they may no longer be able to farm and provide food for the family. It affects the dignity and respect the person has in the community too. DMH wants to continue to change this, so that sight loss is feared less and is treated routinely as part of the care at DMH.
Our Impact
The provision of sight gives chances for a much improved economic future. We have seen this whereby teachers have returned to work, farmers have gone back to farming or children can go to school because they no longer have to look after their grandparent.
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be taking part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge! Every donation made to our campaign between 3rd-10th December will be DOUBLED!
This year we’re raising funds to enable more people in Kimilili to have life-changing cataract surgery, like Fridah whose story is below.
Please note that only donations made through our Big Give campaign page will be doubled – click the button to go straight there!
Life Changing Stories
Fridah Wanyonyi
Eye surgery patient
Fridah Wanyonyi, an 81-year-old woman, has faced vision problems for the past two years. Initially, she experienced itchiness and watery eyes, but eventually, her right eye lost complete vision, perceiving only light, while her left eye could only see blurry objects. During an outreach clinic in April 2022, Fridah was accompanied by her grandchild due to her poor vision. Subsequently, a patient advocate informed her about an upcoming clinic in her area, prompting her to seek medical attention. After an examination by a clinician, she was referred to a hospital for cataract removal surgery.
At the hospital, an ophthalmologist examined Fridah’s eyes and recommended operating on her right eye first, as it had severe vision loss. The surgery took place in July of this year, and Fridah’s right eye now has significantly improved vision. Upon returning to the outreach clinic, Fridah eagerly shared her testimony, expressing her newfound independence and joy at being able to attend the clinic by herself, something she hadn’t been able to do for two years.
Fridah also informed other patients at the clinic that she had referred four individuals to the hospital for eye surgeries. She highly recommended the hospital, praising the friendly staff who genuinely care and provide excellent services to help people achieve better vision. Additionally, she expressed gratitude for the outreach clinics, as they played a crucial role in connecting her with the hospital and encouraged others in the community to seek help there.
Give Regularly
Make a difference in the lives of those requiring sight saving treatment.