Being part of a team on the YWAM Medical Ship can often mean meeting lots of interesting people! It was no different for the ophthalmology team when they decided to go to church together in the village of Buri during the fourth outreach. While they were there they met a man named Luia who was blind in both eyes due to cataracts. They told him about the YWAM Medical Ship being anchored at Karati village, where they were helping to perform cataract surgeries and that they could help him to see again.
The following day, Luia arrived at the ship by dugout canoe, which he paddled all on his own for over an hour from his village! The team was surprised to see him arrive like this, knowing how blind he was. When they asked him what it was like to paddle by canoe without sight, he explained that sometimes he paddled with his eyes open and sometimes with his eyes shut; it didn’t really make much difference one way or another. The team was amazed.
The following day the team was little worried when Luia didn’t arrive with the rest of the post-op patients that had stayed overnight in Karati village where the ship was anchored. Yet about a half hour later he arrived again by canoe from his village with his patch over one eye! Despite orders given the previous day to take it easy after surgery, Luia went on with life as usual and had paddled home!
Luia was very pleased once his patch was removed and he looked around him. He said that it was “very nice” to have his sight back and was looking forward to seeing the grass again. Not even blindness could stop Luia, so who knows where he will paddle to now!