var caption13_1 = 'On The Road to Soddo. Ethiopia  leads the world in blindness and eye impairment. Trachoma is endemic in the districts of Soddo, Alaba, and Gurage where these photographs where taken, during December, 2006.  Hospitals and field clinics are few and far between. While community wells and latrines are continually being dug, many people carry water often many kilometers to homes with no latrines.  Blindness here means a life of destitution and begging. The world health organization estimates 37 million blind people and 124 million visually impaired people worldwide. Trachoma is the world’s leading cause of preventable and treatable blindness.';
var caption13_2 = 'At a school near Alaba, children regularly have their eyes tested by teachers or a visiting district nurse to detect and determine if any diminished eyesight is due to a refractory problem or an infection, likely trachoma. Homemade "pinhole glasses" an eye chart, and eyelid examinations, are the tools.  The children are told about the importance of washing their hands and faces.  Surveys show that 34% of the children in these villages suffer from active trachoma.';
var caption13_3 = 'Asra Tsakik, the Field Coordinator for Orbis International checks the eyes of Workete Gujama.  Her corneas have scarred over as a result of an advanced complication of trachoma called trachomatous trichiasis, which turns the eyelashes inward to scratch and scar the cornea with every blink.';
var caption13_4 = 'Kokate Morchera, 40 was blinded by trachoma when he was 12 years old.  His daughter, Eyasu, leads him around wherever they go.  She is his eyes.  They live mostly by begging. I met them walking along the road near Soddo. Water shortage, flies, poor hygiene, and crowded living conditions are at the root of trachoma.  Under the right conditions, the fly born bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis is as persistent as it is ancient. Trachoma is one of the oldest known diseases.';
var caption13_5 = 'Kokate Morchera, 40 was blinded by trachoma when he was 12 years old.  His daughter, Eyasu, leads him around wherever they go.  She is his eyes.  They live mostly by begging. I met them walking along the road near Soddo. Water shortage, flies, poor hygiene, and crowded living conditions are at the root of trachoma.  Under the right conditions, the fly born bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis is as persistent as it is ancient. Trachoma is one of the oldest known diseases.';
var caption13_6 = 'A patient at the Alaba clinic comes for an examination.  The nurse tells me that his corneas are scarred beyond repair.  Prolonged exposure to infection throughout his childhood and young adulthood has left him blind.';
var caption13_7 = 'School children line up in a village near Alaba to have their eyes checked by nurse Asra Tsakik, the Orbis International Field Coordinator.  He is looking for the presence of follicles, inflammation, or scarring. For the early stages of trachoma, a six-week course of antibiotics (with tetracycline, erythromycin, or sulfonamides) is prescribed, or a single dose of azithromycin.';
var caption13_8 = 'School children line up in a village near Alaba to have their eyes checked by nurse Asra Tsakik, the Orbis Field Coordinator.';
var caption13_9 = 'Melesech Achiso is15, her eyes have been infected many times, and her eyelashes have turned in and scarred the corneas. Her early symptoms were not treated, the follicles swelled into gray pimples, and small blood vessels grew inside her corneas. The only possibility for restoring her sight is a cornea transplant.  She is here to see the one visiting ophthalmologist, who comes to Soddo once a year, for one month, from Addis Ababa. "This list is just too long for one surgeon" Dr. Getenet tells me. The chance of her receiving a transplant is virtually none.';
var caption13_10 = 'In Alaba, nurses perform trichiasis surgery three days a week.  The Field Coordinator tells me that  it often difficult to persuade villagers to come to the clinic to be examined.  They have lived with trachoma for so long, and a few still believe that burning their temples with hot coals heals trachoma.   Numerous outreach programs aim to convince villagers to visit local health posts where assessments, antibiotics, and surgery are available at least for a few days every week.';
var caption13_11 = 'Sister Genet Bogala has performed over 30 trichiasis operations this week at her tin-roofed health post located in the middle of a cow pasture 150 km from Soddo. She is a nurse and, two years ago she was trained, at a one month-long course, on how to perform the surgery that arrests trachomatous  trichiasis.  It takes her about 20 minutes to fix one eye.  She operates on Sherefa Ali, 30.';
var caption13_12 = 'Amaredtt Turq, 41, undergoes trichiasis surgery.  This involves making  about a one half inch  incision  through the upper eyelid, and then sewing  it together so as to "flip" the eyelashes away from the cornea, thus preventing further damage to the cornea. Sister Bogala tells me that they do surgery when more than five eyelashes are scratching the cornea.  Up to that point they suggest antibiotics and   epilation until more severe trachomatous trichiasis  develops. After surgery the patients are given a topical antibiotic and told to come back in a week to have the stitches removed.';
var caption13_13 = 'Sister Genet Bogala has performed more than 30 trichiasis surgeries this week.  She operates on Sherefa Ali, 30, while Keddr Mengi, 45 waits outside for his turn with the field nurse. Nearly 2600 such surgeries were performed in Gurage district in the last 10 months.';
var caption13_14 = 'Gachore Mekengo, 62, has just gotten up from the bench where he had surgery.  A friend receives antibiotics from the nurse  and then  will help him home.  When I ask Gachore how he feels.  He tells me that the most painful part was when the nurse "put the needle in my eyelid".';
var caption13_15 = 'Soddo School for the Blind. These children are the lucky blind ones, because they get to learn brail, and to read and write.  The teachers are also blind.  The Montessori method is used, "because of its tactile nature" says Teferi Kebede who has been teaching at this school for nearly 20 years. Grade 6 teacher Ma Mo Madebo, 46, was the first student at this school.The WHO estimates the cost of childhood blindness in the world, in lost earnings, to be between 8 and 27 billion. 90% of people who are blind live in developing countries. Worldwide, up to 70% of childhood blindness is preventable.';
var caption13_16 = 'Soddo School for the Blind. ';
var caption13_17 = 'During eight days in December, 2006, dozens of workers spread out over six districts and 150 villages to administer 3,000 doses of  Zithromax.  The antibiotic given once a year over three years will protect against Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacteria that causes trachoma.';