Without the right treatment, Happy could go blind.

“She spends the whole day with her face lowered. You’ll see her closing her eyes tightly as she experiences pain. Sometimes she stays 24 hours with eyes closed.”

These are the words from Happy’s mother, Fosca, describing the agonising impact of trachoma on her six-year-old daughter. Her words express so deeply the desperation of living with trachoma, day after day.

This painful eye disease is the most common infectious cause of blindness. Happy was at risk of losing her sight forever. Her infection was so advanced that her eyelashes turned inwards, scraping against her eyes with every painful blink.

Happy’s eyes would be so raw she couldn’t bear to open them. She desperately wanted to play with her friends, but often the pain was so severe that all she could do was lie down, exhausted and crying.

An operation to correct her turned-in eyelids was the only solution to free Happy from her daily pain.