Our Work

Kausar washing her face at a communal water pump in the village © Jamshyd Masud / Sightsavers

Kausar washing her face at a communal water pump in the village © Jamshyd Masud / Sightsavers

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Village Vision

World Water Day on 22 March is a chance for us to highlight what an important role water plays in the fight against blinding trachoma. You may not be aware that trachoma is the world's leading cause of preventable blindness, and that Sighstavers has pledged to eliminate it in the next ten years. The way we can do this is four fold: Surgery to reverse the eyelids that have turned inwards, antibiotics to treat the infection, face washing and environmental hygiene to stop the disease being spread from flies to people, and from person to person.

The village of Killa Virkan in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab Province used to have one of the highest rates of trachoma in the country. Now though, it has been transformed and trachoma virtually eradicated.  

It was because Killa Virkan had such high levels of trachoma that it was chosen by Sightsavers and our partner the College of Ophthalmology and Allied Vision Sciences (COAVS), to be part of a project that uses the aforementioned SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Face washing and Environmental hygiene) to tackle the disease.

The head of the village, or 'Nazim', Ejaz Virk explains: "My village was once in the worst condition. There were heaps of garbage everywhere with lots of flies and mosquitoes. Only 10-15 per cent of households had indoor latrine facilities. Since I am the Nazim, I felt a great responsibility towards the village. One day a team from COAVS together with Sightsavers came to our village. We discussed our problems with them and they wanted to help us."

Community involvement

In order for the project to succeed it was vital for the whole community to be involved, and change was certainly not going to happen overnight. The entire process was dependant on everyone's participation, and COAVS held a series of meetings with the Nazim and village members to plan how to implement the changes, and overcome the challenges. Village health committees were set up to oversee the project and keep the community motivated.

Our partners then got to work treating people with trachoma, and other eye diseases. They also provided extensive training in eye health to the members of the health committees so that they could spread awareness throughout the community, and ran sessions on health education for teachers in school.

Changes were also made to the infrastructure of the village. Working together with Sightsavers, COAVS provided clean filtered water, and mobilised the Nazim and local government to supply piped gas to the village and paved roads. Sample latrines were constructed to encourage villagers to build their own.

Things are looking up

As a result, life has changed for the better in Killa Virkan. People are healthier, eye diseases are greatly reduced, and the streets are clean. Villagers like ten-year-old Kausar (pictured above) thought she would have to give up her dream of becoming a doctor when she contracted trachoma. The pain in her eyes made it impossible to concentrate on her studies, and she feared for her sight. But for Kausar and the other residents of her visit, the threat of trachoma is a thing of the past.