Musa Bah aged 12

Musa lives in Marakissa with his Mother and siblings, his Father sadly died in 2023. He has suffered with his eye health for eight long years. The pain is so severe that he often struggles with sleep and misses days at school.

We met Musa in January 2024 after watching a video of him talking on stage at a festival. He is a lovely, well spoken and confident boy. His condition has not stop him excelling, as you can see from his school report above.

We took Musa to the eye clinic in Brikama, he was given treatment for both eyes and diagnosed with an ulcerated cornea in his left eye.

Over the following 6 months he attended the clinic weekly and was treated with a range of medication that seemed to improve his comfort levels. Suddenly his symptoms worsened and he was referred to the hospital, where he spent a month being treated with different medication and a bandage lens. The limited resources at the Gambian hospitals means there is a requirement for relatives to provide food and care. Musa’s Mother and sister took it in turns to sleep on a mat at the hospital, as it is a long way from their village.

Finally Musa had an operation at the end of August on his right eye. The operation has been a success and his vision is clear, however in the meantime his left eye is permanently shut and his prognosis from the doctor is that he may never see through it again. We are devastated, it is heart-breaking and we ask that you pray for him to regain his sight in his left eye, his right eye to continue to heal and for the pain to stop.

2025 Update

I’m so happy to say that in February this year the Doctor told Musa his sight is now good enough for him to return to school. However the family decided as he had missed so much of the school year, he will start back in September. Our prayers are being answered, Musa has regained some sight in his left eye! Thanks be to God.

He now has better sunglasses that protect his eyes from too much bright light and also coloured film to put over white pages when reading to stop the glare.