South Sudan's vision to tackle blindness

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

JUBA, Sudan (AFP) — Tapping down the rough track with metal sticks, blind Sudanese schoolchildren negotiate a route between stinking pools of muddy rainwater and zooming motorbikes.

Life is tough in southern Sudan, a grossly impoverished region struggling to rebuild after 21 years of civil war with the north.

It's even harder for the tens of thousands who can't see, mostly because of preventable infections left untreated during the conflict, some of which have been wiped out in other parts of Africa.

"I want to find a job. That is hard for everyone and I cannot see well," said 14-year-old Nelson Deng. He says he lost most of his sight after an infection as a young child.

Nelson has not been to school since returning to the southern capital Juba when...