The poetry of sight can only be fully appreciated by those who lose it. Nobody said those words, but they should have. As the General Manager of Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital, Rizwana Peerbhoy is in the business of restoring sight, which, in a way, makes her a poet. And for that, she receives flowers. Virtual ones in the form of handwritten notes and texts, but also real ones – like this extravagant bunch of lilies waiting on her desk.
Behind the lilies is a serious operation. Twenty-five doctors. Twelve ophthalmology specialists. Six satellite clinics from Eastleigh to Village Market. Five hundred walk-ins a day, and another 500-800 screened at camps each week. She doesn’t just witness miracles. She runs the infrastructure that produces them. Sight, it turns out, is not just a medical issue. It is logistical. Financial. Cultural. It depends on supply chains, donors, and systems that work –until they don’t. It depends, sometimes, on something as fragile as a cornea.
