William William Dhel, 60, has been blind for nearly 10 years until a group of Sudanese doctors successfully conducted eye surgery on him. | Photo: Joice Evans/Eye Radio.

William William Del, once a visually impaired man, spent the last decade looking for a solution to his eye ailment, until a group of Sudanese doctors conducted a successful eye surgery on him at Juba Teaching Hospital.

Driven by the hope of having his sight restored, the 60-year-old Gudele resident said he and his family knocked at the door of every health facility for a solution.

According to the many doctors he visited, his eye condition is not that complicated to treat. It is only expensive.

In July, a group of Sudanese doctors under the Albasar Foundation started a free Eye Surgery campaign on patients at Juba Teaching Hospital.

The charity foundation offered free eye treatment to 4,000 visually impaired people.

The doctors and optical specialists carried out eye surgeries on 400 patients and distributed 1,200 eyeglasses to people with eye problems.

After regaining his sight, William Del thanked the Sudanese doctors from his heart.

“I thank God for them because I can see now. In the beginning I couldn’t see. I was not seeing completely, during that time, and I have nearly ten years in blindness,” he said.

Being able to see again was like a new experience for William, who kept amazing himself with the colorful world he longed so hard to see.

“Yes I do. I can see now, and you’re covering your head with black veil,” he said with delight.

The elderly man appealed to the government to allocate land for Al Basar Foundation, who, according to him, need to stay in the country be around to continue their goodwill service.

“I thank our government who cooperated and brought for us the organization, to do for us the surgery, and my recommendation to the government is for them to speak again with this organization, and give them land to continue helping my remaining brothers”

The Albasar International Foundation is a UK-based charity organization working for the prevention of blindness, across the world.

This includes providing therapeutic, preventative and educational programs to manage blindness and visual impairment in developing countries, on a regional and international scale.

Abu Ali Salim, one of the optical specialist conducting the surgery said the most common eye problem they came across, was glaucoma.

“It works in the nerves directly and our work focuses on the retina and the nerve,” said Ali.

“We cannot limit the number of cases that we could not deal with, but we asked them to go to Sudan to receive services there by the other departments,” he added.

At the conclusion of the Eye Surgery campaign in Juba, the Saudi Ambassador to Sudan and South Sudan said the free service will be extended to other states across the country.

Ambassador Ali Bin Hassan Bin Ahmad Jafar pointed out that the services will also include heart operations, eyes, kidney, and eye clinic camps.

“Today eye clinic camp is in Juba, tomorrow will be in Wau and with God will the camps will be in all the parts in South Sudan because our work is human work,” said Amb. Hassan.

“We love to help you and every human being, not only in the health sector but in all the sectors if God wishes we will help operations in heart, eyes, and kidney, and the coming days you are going to witness this,” he added.