MAF enables first South Sudanese female eye surgeon to restore sight

Dr Aja Paul Kuol is South Sudan’s first ever female eye surgeon (credit: Jenny Davies)

On 13 March, MAF will fly Dr Aja Paul Kuol – an eye surgeon and president of South Sudan’s Ophthalmic Association – to Yuai in eastern South Sudan. Dr Aja and the team will operate on hundreds of isolated people who’ve been blind for years because they’ve got no access to affordable healthcare. Dr Aja tells MAF’s Jenny Davies why she partners with MAF

Dr Aja Paul Kuol from Juba is one of only four eye surgeons who work in South Sudan.

She’s based at Juba Teaching Hospital and Queens Hospital in the capital, but her highly sought after skills take her to the edges of society.

Over the years, MAF has enabled Dr Aja and her team to restore sight to thousands of isolated people. Mobile eye clinics by air, are the only way these forgotten communities can receive any life-changing treatment.

Yuai Village in South Sudan has no access to proper healthcare (credit: Jenny Davies)

Due to years of conflict and poverty, South Sudan’s infrastructure, healthcare system and roads are seriously underdeveloped – especially in rural areas like Yuai in Uror County.

Reaching remote villages via pot-holed riddled dirt tracks – even with the best 4×4 vehicle – can take many days. When heavy rain turns unpaved ‘roads’ into mud baths, many routes become dangerous and impassable.

Wild animals and roaming armed gangs pose further risks. For Dr Aja, MAF is the safest and most efficient way to travel.

MAF is the safest and most efficient way to reach the village of Yuai (credit: Jenny Davies)

Reaching the unreached

MAF flies the team from Juba to a range of isolated destinations. They bring along their specialist surgical equipment including a microscope and medical supplies.

MAF flies in personnel and equipment for mobile eye clinics (credit: Jenny Davies)

On a typical four-day outreach, around 1,000 people can undergo life-changing surgery. People within the region can walk up to four days to access the healthcare they so desperately need – a small price to pay for the gift of sight.

Queues of people are desperate for healthcare in Yuai (credit: Jenny Davies)

People wait for treatment in Yuai under a tree to keep out of the sun (credit: Jenny Davies)

Although MAF saves the team days of overground travel, they still have to drive from remote airstrips to reach their destination.

During a two-hour drive back to one airstrip after completing a recent eye clinic in Kapoeta East near Kenya, the team were confronted with a burst riverbank and zero mobile phone coverage. Unable to call for help, one of the team waded in to find the shallowest point, so that the vehicle could eventually cross.

Undeterred, Dr Aja – a mother of five – is determined to continue with her quest to restore sight to as many vulnerable people as possible:

‘With so few surgeons, we have to come out to the field. We can’t wait for people to come to us. People in Juba can afford to access treatment or even go outside of Juba, but in areas like Kapoeta, there is no service that people can access. I move around – it’s the nature of my work.’

Dr Aja Paul Kuol, eye surgeon & president of South Sudan’s Ophthalmic Association

Young people wait to be seen in Yuai (credit: Jenny Davies)

Treating trachoma and cataracts

Two of the most common conditions that Dr Aja treats are trachoma and cataracts.

According to the World Health Organisation, trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. It’s an infectious disease, which thrives in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. If untreated, it can lead to irreversible blindness.

Dr Aja and her team see different stages of trachoma during their trips and fight to save the little sight some people have left:

‘You have to be tough as a doctor because sometimes, even with surgery, their condition might be quite advanced. We take them to theatre when their vision has already significantly reduced.

‘We have to explain to them that we are not trying to increase their vision, just maintain the vision that they have left.’

Dr Aja (right) & team carry out eye tests in Loolim Village (credit:Jenny Davies)

Cataracts are very common in older people – a misty patch develops over the lens, which can lead to total blindness if not removed. Fortunately, vision is restored after surgery. Dr Aja explains:

‘When people come to us blind, they don’t know that this type of blindness is reversable. Cataracts is reversable blindness – it’s not permanent.

‘Coming here and treating thousands of people, it makes a lot of difference – I feel like I’m really giving a service to my community. You can see the smiles on their faces. One man had been blind for seven years. When we opened his eyes, he was dancing!

‘One mother of four who had been blind for eight years had only seen her firstborn son. After the surgery she cried, “This is my baby, that I haven’t seen until now!” This is the difference we are making.’

Cataracts are common in older people & can be removed (credit: Jenny Davies)

One elder from Loolim Village, Eastern Kapoeta, who can see again is very grateful:

‘I am very happy that my sight has been restored, but there are many villages elsewhere that still need help. We hope the outreach continues in response to their need.’

Operations are carried out in an empty hall with makeshift blinds (credit: Jenny Davies)

Blindness – a burden on children

Blindness in communities can be detrimental to wider society especially children, says Dr Aja:

‘Blind adults become dependent on other people. The children are the ones taking care of them, so they end up not going to school. But when you remove the cataract from someone’s eye, you give them that chance to take care of themselves.’

Restoring vision means that people can use the toilet on their own and are able to make a living for themselves and their families. Most importantly, they can see their loved ones again.

When adults see again, children can finally go to school (credit: Jenny Davies)

When a patient gets their sight back, they also regain their independence. Children are released from caring responsibilities and are free to go to school, which will ultimately improve their prospects.

Whatever the condition and wherever the village, Dr Aja and her team wouldn’t be able to carry out their mobile eye clinics without MAF:

‘MAF are very organised and so professional. They are on time and the pilots take care of their passengers. They pray and explain what they are doing. I’ve never experienced this kind of service from another airline. MAF is doing a good job – it’s a very good partnership.’

Dr Aja Paul Kuol, eye surgeon & president of South Sudan’s Ophthalmic Association

One by one, sight is restored in Loolim Village, Kapoeta East (credit: Jenny Davies)

There’s hope for this boy, post-surgery (credit: Jenny Davies)

No stranger to hardship or hard work

During their outreaches, the team work late into the evening in a bid to treat as many villagers as possible. Exhausted by relentless queues of people, they finally sleep in tents instead of comfortable beds.

Dr Aja & team can assess up to 1,000 people during one outreach (credit: Jenny Davies)

But Dr Aja is no stranger to hardship or sacrifice. She was only three when the Second Sudanese War broke out. Her brother died in the conflict and her family were forced to flee to Khartoum and Renk for safety.

Despite her displacement, Dr Aja was able to undertake a medicine degree in Khartoum where she met her husband and later started a family.

In 2014, she won a scholarship from the Christian Blind Mission to train as an eye surgeon at the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

Rather than staying in Kenya to work in a well-equipped hospital in a better paid job, Dr Aja decided to return to South Sudan in 2020 to serve her own people:

‘My kids are in Kenya but I thought, let me make a difference. That’s why I decided to come and work in South Sudan. I’ve always felt like I should go home to help my community, and we have helped many patients. This is my legacy I will leave behind.’

MAF looks forward to flying Dr Aja and her team on 13 March to Yuai. A one hour, thirty-minute flight from Juba will once again maximise the team’s time, saving the sight of hundreds more people.

In safe hands – a woman in Yuai finally gets treatment after many years (credit:J. Davies)

Mobile eye clinics in South Sudan are carried out with a range of partners including South Sudan’s Ministry of Health, Ophthalmic Association of South Sudan, Carter Centre, Himalayan Cataract Project, and Tuach Riek Gai Foundation.

News coverage

The Telegraph

Read about MAF’s mobile eye clinics in Kenya