Trying to rescue the 4 x 4 from the mud! © Sightsavers

Stuck in the mud!

We often talk about transport being an issue, and this is what we mean!

This journey took place in south-east Liberia, which is the most under developed region in the country because it was hit so badly by the civil war.

The poor road networks make travel extremely difficult, which makes it hard to provide eye care to people living in these areas. For example this 80-mile journey from River Gee to Maryland County took more than twelve hours! Our robust 4 x 4 vehicle was damaged, and cost over 250,000 Liberian Dollars, (more than £2,000) to repair. Understandably, not many NGOs want to go there!

Difficulty getting to health centres

Another challenge these type of roads cause to communities is their access to the few health centres and hospitals in the region. For example, at the last outreach camp Sightsavers supported, 52 people were diagnosed with cataract, and referred for surgery. We hired a truck to take them to the nearest hospital, but it got stuck behind another vehicle and after two days had to turn back. As a result, only ten people were able to get to the hospital and have their operations.

It is therefore really important for us to advocate with the Liberian government to get the roads reconditioned, as this would make our programme work much easier.

Achievements

 

In 2010 in Liberia, we supported our partners to carry out:

• The treatment of 8,893 people for sight related problems
• 170 cataract operations
• The protection of over 1.6 million people against river blindness