A series depicting the evolution of two blind sister from India as they undergo a journey from darkness to light through surgery to cure cataract blindness
Sonia, 11, and Anita, 5, are two impoverished blind girls from West Bengal, India. They were born with congenital cataracts and have never experienced sight. The World Health organization estimates global blind at 40 million people, with 51% of those affected by cataracts. In the vast majority of case, this is a curable situation if the patient has access to simple surgery. Poverty is the real reason for these huge numbers of blind people. In the case of Sonia and Anita, their parents, like millions of other simple farmers across India, could not afford the journey to the relevant hospital, let alone the cost of surgery. Fortunately for the two sisters, donor funding made their operations possible. This series of images attempts to show something of their lives as blind people, then their journey through surgery and finally their first experiences of sight.