“The hospital kitchen sat outside next to the trash burn. The air smelled of warm ugali and grilled fish. Thirty feet away, plastic IVs, metal syringes, bloody bandages, and pharmaceutical waste burned. ”

“Moran’s global outreach team partnered with Tanzanian ophthalmologist, Dr. Frank Sandi. During five days, the team of doctors and nurses treated over 1000 patients and performed cataract surgery on almost 500 people.”

“ Omary, a 26-year-old man, living blind from congenital cataracts for over 15 years, was brought to the clinic by his adopted sister Lily. While living in Dodoma, Lily and her mother heard about Omary’s condition and decided to take him into their home to try and find him a cure. The morning after Omary’s first surgery on his left eye, he started vomiting and showing signs of malaria. Lily took Omary to the hospital’s ER, where he was given six different antibiotics in hopes that he would recover in time to get surgery on his right eye before Moran’s Outreach Team left. ”

“Power outages were frequent. Moran’s technicians would restart the computers and medical equipment during surgery every hour or so. On the second day, the water line to the hospital broke, and bodily fluids were poured down the sink with a bottle of water. ”

“Lily’s father passed away two years ago, leaving her mother to take care of five children. Her mother is a woman of undeniable strength, works two jobs, and has sent all of her children to college. Lily is an Urban Development major in college. Her goal is to improve local infrastructure. Omary dreams of learning how to read and making a change in his community as a politician, “Politics run in my blood,” he told Lily. After surgery, when Omary could finally see Lily, he cried. ”