Please help keep people like Wlubnesh S.A.F.E. from the agony of sight-stealing Trachoma!
Your gift multiplied x8!
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
In Ethiopia, Wlubnesh is so grateful for generosity like yours, as loving gifts have healed her from the agony of Trachoma!
She is so grateful, she uses her local dialect for ‘Giver’ – which is ‘Legashi’ in Amharic, the language of Ethiopia.
“Legashi, I am so thankful to be cured. Now I am happy, everything will be okay!”
Wlubnesh’s joy is overflowing. And, this is all because of generous people like you, who have helped pay for the vital eye surgery she desperately needed to set her free from sight-stealing Trachoma! No wonder she is so thankful and grateful!
Please will you prayerfully consider sending your generous gift to help keep more people like Wlubnesh S.A.F.E. from this painful Neglected Tropical Disease. S.A.F.E. stands for Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness and Environment.
The impact of your gift will be multiplied x8 to help fight the agony of sight-stealing Trachoma in the world’s poorest places, where it is still such a threat.
For years, Wlubnesh’s sight was slowly fading, and deep in her heart she knew that without help disaster would eventually fall on her family.
Her family’s entire livelihood depended on six precious cows, for milk and for breeding. But as she reached her 50’s, Wlubnesh and her husband, Shegaw, were forced to sell three of their precious cows as Wlubnesh suffered health problems as a result of years of subsistence living in the harsh climate of the Amhara Region. But the worst impact to her health came through being infected with Trachoma.
If not for the generosity of people like you, Wlubnesh and Shegaw would have had to sell all they had – their three remaining cows – to stop the daily agony and eventual sight loss from Wlubnesh’s Trachoma.
How did Wlubnesh catch Trachoma? In places where water is scarce, people are unable to regularly wash their faces, allowing Trachoma to spread. She probably got Trachoma from the village children playing and being around her. Flies are attracted to their unwashed faces, then unknowingly these happy little children rub their adorable, but infected cheeks, all over their mothers, aunts and grandmothers.
Sadly, through their display of affection and love, the local children have infected around 80% of women with the Trachoma bacteria!
For Wlubnesh, the bacteria began to inflame her eyelids – like a very bad case of conjunctivitis. That is painful enough, but as you know, the way Trachoma blinds people is even worse.
The hidden infection spreading under Wlubnesh’s eyelids caused her eyelashes to turn inwards. Wlubnesh’s lashes began to cut away at the delicate surface of her eyeballs. Each blink made tiny cuts. Too small to see, but each one leaving a microscopic scar.
In their hundreds of thousands, the tiny scars began to form a cloud across Wlubnesh’s eyes. Imagine how uncomfortable and painful this would be, and then imagine her growing fear as her vision started to fade.
Constantly weeping and incredibly sore, looking through her Trachoma-scarred eyes, life became unbearable for Wlubnesh. Without her sight, how could she possibly live a productive life?
Through conversations in her village, Wlubnesh knew treatment was available, but it would cost Wlubnesh and Shegaw their livelihood – the remaining three cows they had! How could they possibly survive that, living with the double disadvantage of poverty and disability?
That is why Wlubnesh is so grateful! It is because of the generous support of people like you who help reduce the spread of Trachoma that Wlubnesh was found by a cbm-funded outreach worker before she became completely blind, who arranged for her to be seen at an outreach clinic.
Yes! Your generosity can truly change lives by helping to support a cbm-funded outreach clinic in the Amhara Region. It is a clinic for eye surgery to repair Trachoma-damaged eyelids, for distributing antibiotics to stop the spread of Trachoma, and for education about the S.A.F.E programme.
Here’s how the antibiotic distribution works. Pfizer, the company that makes New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccine, also makes antibiotic tablets called Zithromax and an eye ointment called Tetracycline. Pfizer is happy to donate, absolutely free of charge, as much of these valuable antibiotics and ointments as we can get to people like Wlubnesh!
Please will you prayerfully consider sending your generous gift to help more people like Wlubnesh who are at risk of losing their sight to Trachoma. They cannot afford to keep themselves S.A.F.E. Your Trachoma gift will be multiplied x8.
To get to the cbm-funded outreach clinic, Wlubnesh had to walk for three hours! The clinic is a simple structure with no electricity, but it is a very special place. Thanks to generosity like yours, this clinic is helping reduce the spread of Trachoma across the last pockets of Ethiopia.
When Wlubnesh found out that generous people like you helped pay for her surgery, she was astonished! She would not have to sell her remaining cows! “To hear there is no payment required, makes me very happy,” she said gratefully.
On the day of her surgery, the cbm-funded surgeon carefully repaired Wlubnesh’s eyelids. No more pain, and no more blinding, excruciating cuts across her delicate eyeballs! Wlubnesh is so grateful and thankful to generous people like you.
Please will you help keep more people like Wlubnesh S.A.F.E. from the agony of sight-stealing Trachoma – by sending your generous gift, which will have 8 times the power, to help keep people S.A.F.E. Especially the children!
Children love clubs, so you are also helping to set up Trachoma Clubs in the schools of rural Ethiopia, where there is no running water. Here the children learn how to protect themselves from Trachoma.
Lack of awareness, coupled with poor hygiene, sanitation and limited access to clean water, increases the risk of infection. But when children keep their faces clean, it reduces the spread of Trachoma.
Mr Seide, the biology teacher who runs a school Trachoma Club, says, “60% of students were coming to school with dirty faces. Now it’s as low as 3%.”
This is the amazing impact you can have to help stop the spread of Trachoma by helping to fund the S.A.F.E. programme.
Dollar-for-dollar, how else could you have such an enormous impact on people’s lives when you send your gift to reduce Trachoma. Your gift is effectively multiplied x8, to keep people S.A.F.E.
S – Surgery – to repair ingrown, infected eyelids.
A – Antibiotics – for a cbm-funded outreach worker to visit remote villages.
F – Facial cleanliness – for promoting face cleaning and other sanitary practices to cut transmission.
E – Environment –for safe, clean village water.
Please send your gift today. Your generosity will bless more people like Wlubnesh.
“Legashi, I am so thankful to be cured. Now I am happy, everything will be okay!”
This is Wlubnesh’s heartfelt expression of how much this means for her and her family. Trachoma has plagued people in poverty since Biblical times, but your gift will selflessly and generously multiply blessings, health and healing. No wonder Wlubnesh is so grateful. Please send your loving gift today for more people like Wlubnesh to overcome the agony of sight-stealing Trachoma, which will be multiplied x8.
Wlubnesh’s sight was slowly fading, and deep in her heart she knew that without help, disaster would eventually fall on her family. But generosity like yours has saved Wlubnesh’s eyes – and her entire life!
Today, please will you prayerfully consider sending your generous gift to help more people like Wlubnesh. Your gift will be multiplied x8 to to keep more people S.A.F.E. from the agony of sight-stealing Trachoma. Thank you!!
