City’s support funds eye care
THE Fred Hollows Foundation has thanked the Toowoomba community for its continued generosity after 332 residents became regular supporters of the foundation this year.
Founding Director Gabi Hollows said the support from the community was inspiring and a reminder of the spirit Fred loved so much.
“To see the Toowoomba community’s continued generosity warms my heart and reminds me of the true, altruistic Australian spirit that has kept the foundation alive for 27 years,” Ms Hollows said.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation began contributing to responses across the world through redirecting resources to fight the pandemic.
Many health care workers who usually focused on eye care have used their medical expertise on the front lines, such as nurses in eye hospitals in the Philippines and Kenya.
One of the patients the Toowoomba community helped is five-year-old Night Baeni from Kenya.
Night was just five years old when her parents, Deborah and Stephen Baeni, discovered she had cataract in both eyes.
She was desperate to go to school with the other children as she wished to become a teacher, but her condition stopped her.
“Night follows the other children to school and I have to bring her back because when she goes, she falls over,” Deborah said.
Their lives changed the day a community health worker, trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation, visited their village and said their little girl could get help.
After a five-hour journey,
Night and Stephen arrived at the Sabatia Eye Hospital.
When the quick and simple procedure was completed, Night’s eye patches were lifted and, much to her delight, she could see again.
“Thank you so much because you have helped my daughter and she is able to see again,” Stephen said.
“I am overjoyed because deep down I knew we couldn’t afford the cost of surgery to have her eyesight restored, but because of you, my daughter is able to see and she’s so happy.”
To help The Fred Hollows Foundation, donate at www.hollows.org.