John Mgalamadzi
John Mgalamadzi was 15 years old and attended the Bangwe Primary School in Limbe, a town near the Malawian capital, Blantyre, when we met him.
John was part of an integrated schools program for children who are vision impaired. However, the problems that John experienced were simply the result of not having glasses, or, uncorrected refractive error.
John’s performance at school was below average and he had repeated a year. He was reliant on the help of his teachers to read and to explain what was on the chalkboard, he said: “I was very interested in school but when I had my eye problem, it was difficult even for me to improve. It is difficult for me to see on the chalkboard when the teacher is writing”.
John’s mother Lucy said: “At first we did not realize he had a problem with his eyes but when he reached the age of 10 we asked him to buy some things. I remember it clearly, the way he looked at the change he brought back it made me realize that my child has problems with his eyes”.
The “Giving Sight to Blind Children” program provided John with an eye examination and a pair of glasses. “My life has changed because in class I have improved because I see enough. I’m very happy because so many things which I can’t see, I will now see.”
John wants to be an engineer when he finishes school. In the same year he received glasses, he improved so greatly that he was able to begin attending the Bangwe Secondary School.
Studies show that in Malawi, of the 4 million children of school-going age, there are 6,000 children who are blind; 13,000 children who have low vision and 30,000 children who have refractive errors.
Only 10% of these vision impaired children are at school.
To find out more about the Giving Sight to Blind Children Project click here.
