Hare and his sister Mina had never seen the faces of their parents.

The children were eight and four years old and both of them were blind in both eyes from birth, as a result of cataracts.

Hare and Mina live in the remote town of Khadga Bhanjyang in the Nuwakot District, seven hours precarious drive from Kathmandu through mountainous country in the foothills of the Himalayas.

In Nepal our partner, the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, funds several local Community Eye Centres. The eye centre clinics provide access to eye care services for the poorest and most remote populations of Nepal.

The children arrived at the Nuwakot clinic with their father, Resham Nepali.

It was hard to believe Hare and Mina had been able to survive for so long. In the developing world, the life expectancy of a child who is blind is just one year.

They both had chest infections and were suffering from malnutrition, but they also lived in such treacherous country that it was hard to understand how these sightless children hadn't fallen off one of the steep drops around their village.

Hare and Mina’s survival to date was a tribute to their parents’ care, and some measure of good luck!

Children's cataract surgery is difficult and often unsuccessful. A child over seven years who has been blind since birth often won't respond to surgery because the brain's ability to recognise visual stimuli has never been exercised.

But there was something about these kids...

Their family lived in dire poverty. Their father was partially blind. Their older sister used to work to bring income into the family but then got married and left home.

Their mother had to leave Hare and Mina, blind as they were, at home with a little food and go out to work not knowing what would happen to them while she was away. She had to – she was the only breadwinner.

The children's future looked grim.

We bundled the kids and their parents into the back of the car and started the long drive from Nuwakot to Tilganga. Neither of the kids had ever been in a car before and although it was exciting for them, they got hopelessly carsick.

You can imagine the fact that they couldn't see made it worse for them as we bounced for hours over the rough roads.

Dr Govinda Paudyal, a paediatric ophthalmologist and a very skilful surgeon, performed the operations on both children.

To everyone's absolute delight, the operations were successful.

Both of the children can now see the faces of their parents for the very first time.

How wonderful.

Hare and Mina can now go to school instead of staying home alone, feeling around for the food their mother had left for them. And their mother can work without worrying about her children.

Now these kids have a whole lifetime of sight ahead of them.

Thanks to our supporters, Hare and Mina have a future.

Donate now to make a difference to the lives of other children like Hare and Mina who living with avoidable blindness.