Doctor restoring sight to Namibians 'humbled' by award

A Namibian doctor who was recently recognised in Forbes Africa's The 50 over 50 List of Africa’s Female Powerhouses, has told the BBC that it was “very humbling” to see her work recognised.

Dr Helena Ndume, an ophthalmologist, has been working with humanitarian organisation See International to help eradicate preventable blindness in Namibia, neighbouring countries and other underprivileged communities around the world.

She says they have performed sight-restoring surgeries to more than 38,000 people, at no cost, in a project that began in 1997.

She told the BBC's Newsday programme it was a work of passion. “No money in this world can pay for the happiness of someone who was once blind.”

“After the surgery that takes 15 minutes and then they say: 'Doctor, I have been blind for 10 years and now I can see - thank you very much that I can now see.'”

But she stressed that it wasn't just her work alone, “there are so many people involved in helping me to fight blindness".

She acknowledges the support of the country’s ministry of health in her work, while indicated that many people go blind because the conditions are not detected early.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: See International

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