Abiyot's story: Making an impact on an entire community

Abiyot loves his role and although he has only been doing it for two years, he already seems to have made a significant impact on his community.

Abiyot only undertook his training to become an Integrated Eye Care Worker just over two years ago. We meet in his small surgery. The room is very basic, with yellow walls, one bed and sterilised surgical instruments on a small tray next to him.

“I remember my first surgery,” he tells us. “It was done in Konso in the training, the very first training. I was a bit nervous, but my guide came and showed me how to do it. I watched carefully and from then on, I started doing the perfect surgery!” He laughs at this – he’s joking, but he’s not incorrect.

Our team in Gamo Gofa explain that, since Abiyot began working, he hasn’t had a single complication in any of his surgeries. In his training alone, he has performed 32 surgeries in the 20 days of practical training; he is the first IECW in the training process to do this.

Now, Abiyot covers two health centres, and performs up to 50 trachoma trichiasis surgeries a month. “He’s very wonderful!” a member of our Gamo Gofa team says. He seems to have made quite an impact on the community too. He grew up in this area, and he still lives there now, with his wife and four children, helping the people around him.

People recognise him as someone who can help them. On our way back from a home visit, an old woman, who happened to be walking past stopped him. They spoke briefly, and he checked her eyes there and then. He is clearly trusted.

We see this when we visit a patient named Mandido’s house after undergoing trachoma surgery, performed by Abiyot. She had previously tried to go for trachoma surgery, but was too scared to go through with it. However when Abiyot met her in her village, his gentle counselling helped give her the courage to undergo the treatment she needed. Without his help, she would have lived with her trachoma, and may eventually have been left blind.

“I go from home to home and I find the cases, and I bring them to the health centre, then I treat them,” Abiyot says. But care goes further than just surgery – on the day we spend at one of the health centres Abiyot covers, he has also bought lunch for the patients treated that day, as well as the family members which come with them.

And it doesn’t just stop at the health centre – Abiyot takes his work home with him too! “I teach them – I closely follow my family and my relatives, I give them information about trachoma; to wash their hands, to wash their face two times daily, to wash their hands after visiting toilet so they’re prevented from trachoma.

“It’s very important for the entire population. People who are affected by trachoma, it has a negative impact on their daily lives – so when they get surgery and are treated well, they can go back to their daily activities. I’m very happy and I enjoy the work!"

Seeing Abiyot’s skill and dedication to his work as an Integrated Eye Care Worker is inspiring, and it’s hard to believe that he has only been in the role for two years. His impact on his community is a powerful reminder why the training that Orbis delivers is so crucial.

Thanks to people like him, we can keep boosting eye health in communities across Ethiopia. And while we have enjoyed great success there over the past 20 years, there is still a huge amount of work to be done. Over this time the population has grown from around 65 million to 105 million, putting extra strain on already overstretched resources.

Are you ready to help us train more community health care workers in all aspects of eye care, from awareness of services, identification, diagnosis, referral and treatment?