A quiet village in Kaliganj Upazila of Gazipur. As evening falls, darkness descends all around.
But that darkness seems to descend a little earlier on seven-year-old Sadia’s eyes. For months, the girl has been saying the same thing over and over again—’Mom, I can’t see anything properly.’
This little sentence has robbed his mother, Shiuli Begum, of sleep at night. Worries and worries have gripped her.
Finally, unable to wait any longer, Shiuli Begum rushed to Lions Eye Hospital in Agargaon in the capital on Sunday (April 19) with her daughter. When she arrived there, she stood in a long queue with her daughter.
There, I spoke to Shiuli. Her anxiety and helplessness came out in between the conversations. She said that earlier, vitamin ‘A’ capsules were regularly administered in the local school. Sadia was also part of that campaign. But for the past year, no one has come, and there is no news.
Shiuli Begum’s voice becomes heavy, “Earlier, they would take him to school and feed him red capsules. Now no one comes… In the evening, he says, ‘Mom, I can’t see anything properly.’ Then he gets very scared.”
The same concerns and worries are shared by the family of Rafiqul Islam, a daily wage laborer in Harinakundu upazila of Jhenaidah. His nine-year-old son Rabbi suffers from weakness, stomach ache, and loss of appetite.
Rafiqul was saying, “They used to give tablets twice a year at school. Now they stop. The doctor says it could be worms.”