Cataract Treatment Provides Renewed Independence in Tanzania
Modesta’s day-to-day life in the Mbarali District of Tanzania was becoming increasingly difficult as her eyesight worsened. She once enjoyed staying active by working on her farm and keeping up with household chores, but eventually, her vision deteriorated so much she could no longer keep up with them. The 67-year-old worried that her children would need to care for her for the rest of her life.
“For four years, I struggled with my vision, becoming increasingly dependent on my children,” Modesta says. “It was heartbreaking and painful, especially knowing they relied on me, and their father wasn’t around to help.”
Her spirits lifted when she received a visit from a Helen Keller Intl-trained community health worker conducting door-to-door screenings in her village. The community health worker told Modesta she most likely had cataracts in both eyes, which was confirmed by a screening from an ophthalmic nurse. She learned that surgery could help restore her vision and eagerly agreed to the treatment.
One of the Most Common Causes of Blindness is Easily Treated
Cataracts are one of the most common causes of blindness worldwide, causing vision impairments for an estimated 94 million people. Typically related to aging, cataracts occur when the eye’s lens becomes cloudy, which can lead to blurred vision and sensitivity to light.

While cataracts can typically be treated surgically, getting and paying for such care can be difficult. Only 17% of people with cataract-related vision impairment have received access to appropriate treatment. In addition, women suffer disproportionately – while 60% of those with cataracts are women, men are 1.39 times more likely to receive surgery.
In Tanzania, access to cataract surgery is particularly limited as the entire country only has 69 ophthalmologists – less than one for every million people – most of whom are in major cities. Helen Keller has been working with communities, partners, and the government in Tanzania to overcome these obstacles to care and improve access to this cost-effective, $185 procedure. Helen Keller supports this initiative through Helen’s Fund, an internal investment fund to catalyze ideas from the organization’s staff to advance new solutions to help reach more people more effectively.
Helen Keller trains community health workers to go house-to-house in communities to identify cases of cataracts and helps refer those identified for treatment. To restore the vision of individuals with cataracts, Helen Keller organizes high-volume surgical outreach camps that bring together healthcare workers from multiple facilities across a health district to provide cataract surgery to a large number of people over several days. Last year, Helen Keller screened more than 3,900 individuals in four districts in southwest Tanzania for cataracts, of which more than 750 received surgery for at least one eye to restore their vision.
Surgery Restores Clear Vision and Independence

Modesta received her cataract surgery through one of these outreach camps. After checking in, a healthcare worker conducted an assessment to confirm her diagnosis and vision loss. The medical team explained that the procedure would replace her cloudy lenses with artificial ones, enabling her to see clearly again, and scanned her eyes to determine which lenses she needed.
The surgery took less than half an hour and was life-changing for Modesta. The next day at her post-operative appointment, she noticed a significant improvement in her vision and could already read without difficulty again. Over the next few weeks, her vision continued to improve.
Eventually, Modesta was able to return to her daily tasks. She was overjoyed that she could be independent again.
“The surgery was a miracle for me,” she said, adding, “I was disappointed, believing I could not see again, and stopped going to the farm and doing household activities, but now I enjoy doing all the things I love.”

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