A Vision for the Sightless
Story by Flying for Life
A gift to the school child. A gift to the grandchild. A gift to the matriculant… If we take care of the elderly, we take care of the future:
We can all imagine that losing one’s sight will affect a person’s life in every way. At flying for life, we believe that we can work on second chances, hence with your help, we gear up to provide as much upliftment as we can to our country’s isolated communities. The impact of equal opportunity is improved quality of life for all.
People in the rural communities of South Africa often lack access to comprehensive medical provision that sufficiently caters to their needs. There is a shortage of skilled medical professionals in these areas, resulting in numerous challenges within the given community. Being faced with oncoming blindness and no means to treatment will have your life changed around irrevocably. The basics are no longer attainable: you are unable to clean, work in your garden, grow your food, do your laundry, or cook your food. This is the beginning of a ripple effect that claws into generations – your grandchildren. They miss out on the developmental stages crucial to the progression of their own life. They stay home from school to look after you. They stay off from work to make sure you can get to the loo safely.
We start with the individual. One individual affects another, which becomes the beginning of a community effect. On September’s eye-doctor flight we flew with Mercy Air to return to rural Limpopo. When sitting down and speaking with the patients from Venda, it became clear that the elderly often have to live on their own. Most families have only one or two family members to depend on, social support is thin on the ground, and where it is provided the supporter takes strain. These elderly patients find assistance where they can to make their way for various checkups at local clinics in order to be transferred to a hospital for surgery. This normally takes years as the list of people awaiting surgery at public hospitals versus the access to specialists is an elusive process.
Most of the patients we spoke with depend on their pension funds, social and state grants, which makes it difficult or impossible for the individuals to afford private institutions that will, in this case, provide them with the necessary time-sensitive surgeries they need to go on with their daily lives.
The encouraging news we did take away from this was that these government pensions went a long way in accessing hired domestic help for these patients.
Sam Thitshi, one of the patients we attended to mentioned he was supposed to be operated on before Covide-19 lockdown in March 2020, due to the lockdown all procedures were cancelled. Considering the severity of his case and the infection in his right eye at risk of spreading he had no choice but to use R17 000 of his life-long savings, for a private operation. He is one of the minority who still receives a pension from his previous employer; he depends on this and that is how he is able to take care of himself and his family. This September he receives his second surgery for his left eye, without any expense.
There is a tireless list of citizens who, with the loss of their vision, are unable to fulfil their careers, and earn an income to sustain themselves together with their families. A former teacher, one of our patients, was forced to stop teaching and resign years before his retirement age. If you cannot read, you cannot teach in school. He taught Mathematics, Economic Management Science, and Technology. What a loss of such an asset to the school, the children, and that community!
He is now 68 and has been staying at home with his family and depending on them. Today he received cataract surgery. A new lens. And a chance to use his skill and invest in his grandchildren. Flying for Life has the vision to curb the prevalence of such stories. To prevent the loss of imperative careers and community investment by individuals who comprise it.
We are privileged to bring change and healing. We are privileged to take volunteers out who are enthused to make a difference. This September we managed to successfully perform 14 eye surgeries. This is how we change the narrative, and kick-start a new ripple effect.
Join us to bring Help, Hope, and Healing.
We offer many ways to get involved, sign-up on our website and we’ll help you with the next step. We would like to encourage you that everyone can play a part.
Flying for Life assists in raising funds for all the medical equipment needed for these surgeries. Volunteer needs include doctors, specialists, nurses, psychologists, and youth workers. Individuals to assist on flights, at fundraising events, with media, a with spreading the word. We are looking for donators, every bit counts. We are looking for partnerships and corporate involvement.
We are looking for everyday MySchool card ambassadors. And we are looking for your old spectacles! (yes, we can recycle these for people in need).
We’re excited to have you on board and thank you for your support. It takes a community to uplift and rise.
For volunteer and partnering enquiries feel free to email us at info@flyingforlife.co.za.
For MySchool card enquiries, and handing in your old spectacles, email us at marketing@flyingforlife.co.za. Or drop them off at Block 809/2, Third Floor, Hammets Crossing Office Park, 2 Selborne Road, Fourways, Johannesburg, 2191. (Pudo courier options for other areas in the country).
For funding and corporate giving enquiries, email us at fundraising@flyingforlife.co.za
Flying for Life partners with Mercy Air for flight operations to get us to remote areas that would otherwise take hours, we do this to maximize our professionals’ time on the ground. Once we are there we partner with the Department of Health to further assist with transport between hospitals and airstrips.
