A Blind Mother Raising Her Kids Alone
Abandoned by her husband and working through the grief of losing a child, Mary, 35, from South Sudan, faced the daunting task of raising her three remaining children as a single, blind mother.
Her inability to see stripped her of opportunities to provide for her remaining children, two daughters and son. "By the end of 2023, I started experiencing severe allergies and pain in my left eye," she explained, "After a while, I slowly developed the feelings of allergy and pain in my right eye. My vision reduced, so I could not see things from afar, and it continued for a few months. Until I lost all my vision in both eyes in October 2024 and became completely blind for 8 months."
Blindness Took Her Independence, but Not Her Will
Daily life became very hard with everyday household tasks feeling impossible. "I could not do home activities anymore, like cooking and washing clothes and utensils." Her livelihood vanished. "Furthermore, it was so difficult for me to continue with the activities of agriculture and making local alcohol due to the visual impairment. The blindness has made me poor."
The social isolation was crushing. "Even my husband left me alone with the children after I went blind. I used to receive a lot of bad words, insults, disrespect, and bad treatment from the people around me."
