At five years of age, Tania had developed a cataract in her right eye - by the time she was 10, she was blind in both eyes. Her family’s lack of financial resources meant Tania was deprived of treatment she desperately needed.

• Approximately 40,000 children in Bangladesh are blind - 12,000 cases due to cataract

Tania stopped going to school and had started losing contact with friends, becoming increasingly isolated due to her blindness.

With the help of The Fred Hollows Foundation, in partnership with the Bangladesh National Institute of Ophthalmology in Dhaka, Tania’s sight was restored and she has now returned to school.

More than 650,000 people in Bangladesh suffer from cataract blindness and there is an annual incidence of 130,000 cases. An estimated 6.65 million adults need glasses.

The Foundation currently operates in 14 districts in partnership with government and non-government organisations’ hospitals. The Foundation supported 4,968 cataract surgeries in Bangladesh last year. A further 21,310 other sight saving or improving interventions and 74,392 screenings were also supported by The Foundation in 2011.

> Find out more about The Foundation's work in Bangladesh.