How cataract surgery allowed Ambiya to read the Quran again

In 2017, Ambiya fled Myanmar with her children, seeking safety in the overcrowded Cox’s Bazar refugee camp. For years, the Rohingya people have faced discrimination, violence, and been denied basic rights in Myanmar, with violence significantly escalating in 2017.

Before the escape, Ambiya began to lose her vision, but as Rohingya people were denied healthcare in Myanmar, she couldn’t receive treatment for her condition.

Reading and reciting from the Holy Quran had always been an important part of her life, but with her deteriorating eyesight, Ambiya had to give up this cherished practice.

The journey to Cox’s Bazar was gruelling, and Ambiya’s vision continued to worsen. She recalls, “I reached a point where I couldn’t leave my house without someone guiding me.”

In a camp with limited access to essential healthcare services, Ambiya felt trapped. But then, a conversation with her son’s friend, a volunteer at an Orbis Vision Centre, changed everything. This was the first time Ambiya heard about the free eye care services available to refugees.

Ambiya took a chance and visited the Vision Centre, where the doctor diagnosed her with cataracts, a condition that could be treated with surgery. She immediately agreed to undergo cataract surgery to restore her sight.

Thanks to the partnership between Orbis and the local Cox’s Bazar Baitush Sharaf Hospital, everything was arranged at no cost – transport, surgery, overnight stay, food, and even new spectacles. Ambiya underwent successful surgery on both eyes, first the right, then 16 days later, the left.

Now, Ambiya can see clearly again. “It feels like I’ve been given a new life, and the greatest gift is being able to read the Quran again,” she says.

Since 2018, Orbis has been working tirelessly in Cox’s Bazar to provide free eye care services to both Rohingya refugees and the local Bangladeshi community. Through vision screenings, cataract surgery, and glasses, Orbis is restoring sight and giving refugees a chance at a brighter future.

For many, like Ambiya, this is the first opportunity they’ve had for access to essential eye care – a service that is so often out of reach in areas of crisis.

This Ramadan, we urgently need your help to reach more refugees in need of sight-saving surgery and medical care. Your donation can help provide cataract surgeries, vision screenings, and glasses to refugees who have no other means of receiving eye care.

Donate today to help Orbis continue its life-changing work in Cox’s Bazar. Together, we can stop avoidable blindness and change lives by restoring sight and hope to those who need it most.