Krim Yum’s cataracts had been getting worse – the faces of his children grew hazy and he found it difficult to work.

By the time his two youngest children were born his sight was entirely gone. Yum had never seen their smiling faces.

Yum and his wife Lake Phat are traditional musicians, eking out a living with their six children in the desperately poor Cambodian province of Kampong Thom.

As his cataracts developed and Krim Yum gradually lost his sight, he was forced to abandon his livelihood as a musician and let his music students go.

He missed music desperately, but the impact on his daily life was worse. If he was alone with no one to help him, it was difficult to leave the hut to go to the toilet, and he had to shower holding his clothes so he didn’t lose them.

That was in 2005.

Then Yum heard about the Kampong Thom Eye Unit, which is supported by The Fred Hollows Foundation. Another villager’s eyesight had been restored there and the surgeon, Dr Kak Kakada, had encouraged that villager to spread the word about the clinic.

Yum decided to visit the clinic.

His daughter took him by moto (motorcycle) for his first operation.

It was a great success.

He returned a week later to have the operation on his other eye. Each round trip cost him 3000 Riel (about AUD$1.10) but the operation and food during his stay were all free of charge.

Two simple, inexpensive operations and Yum is able to support his family again. He works around the house preparing food, collecting firewood, feeding the pigs, working in the vegetable garden, collecting water from the well and caring for his children.

With his wife he works in the rice paddy fields to feed their family of eight and to supplement their income from music.

"While I was blind, I couldn't see my children,” Yum told us. "Now I can see my children and my wife. Thank you so much."

A cataract operation doesn't just restore a person's eyesight. It liberates them from poverty, the heartache of dependency and, in all probability, an early death.

Your gift will give individuals and families a future.