‘I can see!’: the mobile team saving sight in the Kenyan bush - in pictures

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Trachoma is the most common infectious cause of blindness in the world. Kenya aims to eliminate the disease in four years, helped by teams who traverse desert and bushland to reach scattered communities

Main image: Bandages are applied after a successful trachoma operation in Turkana, Kenya

  • Through its trachoma programme, Kenya is on track to eliminate the disease in four years. Samson Lokele was the first surgeon in Turkana, Kenya’s least developed area. Since qualifying 10 years ago Lokele has performed 3,500 trachoma operations. The NGO Sightsavers helps to coordinate the programme.
    Samson Lokele, Turkana, Kenya

  • Lokele travels widely across desert and bush to care for Turkana’s nomadic communities. He also works at the Kakuma refugee camp. The region has a population of 1.25 million. Since Lokele began operating, Turkana has gone from having the highest trachoma prevalence in Kenya to the lowest.
    Turkana, Kenya

  • Small clusters of manyattas – domed temporary homesteads – make up a typical pastoralist settlement. The dry, isolated environment is an ideal setting for trachoma to flourish. Lokele and his team sometimes offer to tend people’s cows to convince them to accept treatment, or broker a peace between rival communities to ensure both attend a pop-up surgery.
    Manyattas, Turkana, Kenya

  • ‘We need to track people, ask where they have gone. If I find them, I try to operate then and there, as they might not be there when I get back,’ says Lokele. Infection is spread through personal contact and by flies.
    Samson Lokele, Kenya

  • Turkana’s trachoma team has grown in 10 years: there are now eight surgeons, 16 ophthalmic nurses, three optometrists, 38 assistants, 250 community health workers, and close to 2,000 volunteers, who usually travel by motorbike.
    Sightsavers, Turkana, Kenya

  • Ngurotin Lung’Or is the only female volunteer in the area. She combs villages for people with signs of the disease, bringing them in for surgery. She also teaches good hygiene. ‘My hope is that when trachoma is eliminated, everyone will be able to do the work they depend on to look after his or her family, that’s my happiness,’ she says.
    Ngurotin Lung’Or, Turkana, Kenya

  • Lung’or initially faced resistance, but after the first patient she took for surgery went home able to see, confidence grew. ‘My grandfather told us about trachoma, and the local way where they use herbs, and scratch the patient’s eye. This was making things worse, many people went blind … I put all my mind on learning about trachoma so I’ll be able to educate my people and reduce their pain,’ she says.
    Ngurotin Lung’Or, Turkana, Kenya

  • Community worker James Lomuria assesses Asekon Obong, whose mother and grandmother both have trachoma. Lomuria is a motorbike taxi driver, and has volunteered for five years. ‘It’s difficult to find people suffering from this disease,’ he says. ‘Houses are far away from each other. I use my motorbike to go for the house-to-house visits.’
    Community worker James Lomuria, Turkana, Kenya

  • Ing’oya Lorot, Ipo Nabur, Amoni Ekaale and Akai Ekiru are members of the same family. They all have trachoma and are scheduled for surgery. Ekiru has been affected for most of her adult life – she remembers her children helping to clean her eyes when they were small.
    Ing’oya Lorot, Ipo Nabur, Amoni Ekaale and Akai Ekiru, Turkana, Kenya

  • When patients needing surgery are identified, mobile theatres are set up. ‘They can’t or won’t get to the health system, so we take the health system to them,’ says Lokele. Opthalmic nurses Ludwine Luga and Martha Locham set up a theatre in a church, two hours from the nearest town. It’s not ideal, but the team has to take the opportunity to operate wherever there are patients.
    Mobile operating theatre, Turkana, Kenya

  • A group of patients outside the theatre waiting for surgery. The white squares are notes to guide the surgeon.
    A group of patients outside the theatre waiting for surgery

  • ‘As long as it is a clean place, it can be anywhere. We have operated under trees, in classrooms in schools, in a tent, and in the bush,’ says Lokele. Trachoma is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of about 1.9 million people. The global cost is estimated at $5.3bn (£4.15bn).
    Outdoor operating theatre, Turkana, Kenya

  • Surgeons Samson Lokele and Maurice Albony barely pause between patients – they need to finish before the light fades.
    Surgeons Samson Lokele and Maurice Albony, Turkana, Kenya

  • Lomuria and a nurse talk to Ipo Nabur after her operation. Nabur is all smiles. ‘I am not feeling any pain. There’s no more pricking. I can see! I can see very far. There’s a lot of difference,’ she says. ‘I am very grateful.’
    Lomuria and a nurse talk to Ipo Nabur, Turkana, Kenya

  • In less than an hour, the theatre is dismantled and packed into the pickup. ‘With resources and commitment from all the stakeholders it will be possible to eliminate trachoma. We will have liberated the community from going blind,’ says surgeon Edwin Simiyu.
    Pickup truck, Turkana, Kenya

  • Albony checks Amoni Ekaale the day after surgery. ‘Although I am not yet healed, I can see over there. I can see! Now that I have no pain, I am starting what I love most doing. Sewing. For now, I want to relax. But after a few days, I’m going to start sewing. I would encourage people to go for the surgery.’
    Maurice Albony checks Amoni Ekaale, Turkana, Kenya
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