Daily Life Picture Story

Manang, a district that borders Tibet, China, had a population short above 6,500 residents are mainly dependent upon agriculture and tourism. The elderly here are mainly suffering from either single or double cataract blindness, which is a dense, cloudy area that forms in the lens of the eye causing impaired eyesight. The cataract blindness is hampering their daily life as they cannot see clearly. Traveling for up to ten days from their remote homes, the cataract patients along with family members come to Chame Community Eye Center in Chame, a district headquarter of Manang to receive the free cataract surgery by Dr. Sanduk Ruit on 24 May. One after the other they are given anesthesia before Dr. Ruit, who established the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Nepal in 1994, makes two tiny cuts in the eye, removes a cloudy jelly-like lens, and replaces it with one of the intraocular lenses. The surgery takes less than 5 minutes to complete. In a single day, Dr. Ruit carried out 62 surgeries from 08:45 am to around 10:00 pm. The joy of the patients, who soon after pack and prepare to return to their homes next day, is the happy awarding and inspiration for Dr. Ruit. 'Sometimes when a mother sees her child for the first time after surgery, these are very powerful inspirations, and what else you want in your life, says Dr. Ruit while sitting happily and seeing his patients depart.

Finalist

Eyes: Cloudy to Clarity

Narendra Shrestha
EPA
Nepal

Narendra Shrestha is a senior photojournalist from Nepal. A graduate of the International Institution of Journalism in Germany, Shrestha has taken a masterclass course from Mads Nissen, the winner of the 2015 World Press Photo of the Year. He has also received many awards including the Ochberg Fellowship 2017 from Columbia University and the Award of Excellence for Disaster and Disease Coverage at the China International Press Photo Contest. At the same time, he has served in various positions in the National Federation of Photo Journalist (NFPJ)-Nepal. With the experience of 24 years, Shrestha has documented major events in Nepal from Maoist insurgency to the covid19 pandemic. He has traveled to many places in Nepal and beyond to cover human interest stories. This has given him exposure and access to understand Nepali life and society in a deeper context.

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