More than half of the world’s preventable blindness is caused by cataract disease, a clouding of the clear lens of the eye. In developing countries like Nepal, it is not only a personal tragedy, but can devastate the economy of entire communities. Fortunately, it is also easy to cure. Cataract surgery is one of the most effective medical interventions on earth, but until recently was considered too expensive to provide to the rural poor. Most of the world’s blind people live in remote, impoverished areas. The majority of doctors able to cure them work in cities. Dr. Sanduk Ruit from Nepal, and his American partner, Dr. Geoff Tabin, have made perfecting a portable low cost surgical procedure to restore sight their life‘s work. They trek to Nepal’s remote Northeast, carrying an entire hospital on porters‘ backs. Their mission is to bring the needlessly blind out of the darkness.
