Beneficiaries

"As long as there are human beings there is going to be blindness. What we are working hard towards now is to eradicate avoidable blindness. As Fred used to say, you can remove a cataract for only a few dollars.

Our cataract surgery coverage is about 1,500 per year. We are doing a lot, and we have done a lot and when you compare it to some neighbouring countries, we are doing more. What we need is to increase the scope. So that it will reach every corner of Eritrea.

Fred was always on the side of the poor. He was a real revolutionary. And when he saw the situation [in Eritrea], he said "Can I help?" And he saw that I was the only doctor who was working on that. He said "May I bring him here to Australia, so I can teach him?" And that is how it started.

And Fred said, 'Hey Des, we are going to produce intraocular lenses (IOLs) here [in Eritrea]'. 'What are you saying Fred,' I asked. 'Even if we are going to produce them, who is going to put them in?' Fred said, 'You are going to put them in. You and your colleagues'.

As I always say of Fred, he was my friend, he was my teacher, and he was even my father. Fred's work is unforgettable. It is built like a statue in our heart, as well as in our mind. I dare say, everybody knows about Fred in Eritrea. We have the Fred Hollows Kindergarten, we have the Fred Hollows IOL Laboratory here, and we have Fred Hollows Street. And he is an honourable citizen of Eritrea. So he is an Eritrean - more than an Eritrean. That is what is making us move in this place.

What we need is the Australian people and The Fred Hollows Foundation to help us, so that we will not lose momentum.

We want to be exemplary. We have to do more."

Dr Desbele Ghebreghergis is an eye surgeon and Medical Director of Birhan Hospital, in Eritrea.

Two year old Sammy had congenital cataracts in both eyes. Living in a country as impoverished as Eritrea, his prospects were bleak.

But the legacy of Fred Hollows changed all that. Before his death, Fred had travelled to Eritrea to help train surgeons, secure equipment and build an intraocular lens factory.

One of the surgeons he met and helped train was Dr Desbele Ghebreghergis - now Medical Director of Birhan Hospital in Asmara.

With help from The Foundation, Sammy was sent to Dr Desbele for surgery. His sight was restored and he can now run, play and make friends like other boys his age.

And while Sammy's eyes weren't sufficiently developed for intraocular lenses to be inserted, that will come next and the glasses he currently wears will be gone.