Ndjidda Wakili, 80, who resides In Salak in the outskirts of Cameroon’s Far North Regional capital Maroua has been blind for about half of his Life.
Pa Ndjidda who use to be a butcher before, had no choice but to abandon his job after cataract destroyed his 2 eyes and rendered him blind
” I couldn’t cut and weigh meat to customers anymore
I just sat all day at home with my walking stick.
I was inside my house for most times
And when I needed to get fresh air,
I struggled to come outside sometimes with the help of my children.
Life without sight is indeed hell on earth” Ndjidda recounts
When he heard that there was going to be a free campaign for cataract surgery, he didn’t hesitate to go there
“I heard about the surgery and immediately asked my children to take me there” the 80 year old told African Stringers.
He finally underwent the surgical operation and was so elated at the outcome
” I am indeed overjoyed that the surgical Operation was done successfully. I can now see after about 40 years of blindness.
I was wondering how that was going to be possible and today all my worries are gone
I am filled with immense joy ” Ndjidda Wakili voiced out.
Njidda is one out of the 275 who benefited from a free Surgery Campaign initiated by the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR- An Elite Force of the Cameroonian Army. The Civilian-military cooperation was organised in Kaele ,a rural area in Far North Cameroon.
78 year old Wadjouli Michel is also amongst the hundreds of beneficiaries chosen for the surgical Operation.
He has been without sight for close to two years and like Pa Ndjidda, he has faced many challenges carrying out his day to day activities
“I used to own a small store but couldn’t continue anymore” he explained.
When his neighbors told him about the eye operation, he immediately went to the site, Stood on the queue then his turn came for him to be operated upon. After the Surgery, he began seeing again.
“My life will go on smoothly now. It’s just like a dream but I am happy it’s a reality. And I didn’t spend a single franc ” he said with a large smile
Mairouskou too acquired vision loss a few years back.
She’s thankful for such an opportunity to see again after she benefitted from the free Surgery.
The General Coordinator of the BIR, Colonel Pelene François who left Cameroon’s Political Capital, Yaounde to supervise the campaign says the wellbeing of the Population led him to carry out the Humanitarian gesture
He says they noticed that there where many cases of cataract in the region.
“We have consulted close to 1600 patients with eye related problems with 275 being serious cases of cataract that we carried out surgery on.
Now we are so glad to she the results produced by this campaign that is the 5th we have carried out in Cameroon since the 1st we organized in 2019. It is so delightful to see people who were completely blind in one or both eyes now seeing again. They are now hugging these military officers out of Joy.
That is the concretization of the Army and nation concept. This will go a long way to help collaboration between the BIR and population to subdue the enemy” Colonel Pelene explained
Though much research has not been done on Cataract (which is the clouding of the lens of one’s eye) in Cameroon, health experts say the eye disease is common in the three northern regions of the country.
Report by Dorcas Ekupe