December 9, 2002 - The Chicago Herald: Ghana RPCV gives the gift of sight to Nigerian Teacher

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2002: 12 December 2002 Peace Corps Headlines: December 9, 2002 - The Chicago Herald: Ghana RPCV gives the gift of sight to Nigerian Teacher

By Admin1 (admin) on Monday, December 09, 2002 - 1:34 pm: Edit Post

Ghana RPCV gives the gift of sight to Nigerian Teacher





Caption: Ukeh, a Nigerian who teaches history and English to middle school children in Gambia and suffers from a degenerative disease in his corneas that means he is slowly losing his eyesight.

Read and comment on this story from The Chicago Herald on a chance meeting that took place several years ago between Des Plaines native David Weber, a Peace Corps volunteer in Gambia, and Ukeh, a Nigerian who teaches history and English to middle school children in Gambia and suffers from a degenerative disease in his corneas that means he is slowly losing his eyesight. Ukeh will undergo surgery on his right eye December 10. The Webers hope to raise enough money for the second surgery. They've raised $4,000 so far, with the help of First United Methodist Church in Des Plaines. Read the story at:

Giving the gift of sight*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Giving the gift of sight

By Amy McLaughlin Daily Herald Staff Writer

Posted on December 09, 2002

Daily Herald

Daily Herald Photo/Daniel White
Friday Ukeh grew up eating mostly vegetables and rice, and he shared his sleeping quarters with sheep and other wandering animals.

He's lived in grass huts miles from civilization, a trip often made in a trailer dragged by a donkey.

Africa is his home. He's happy there. The 37-year-old native of Nigeria survived civil wars three decades ago, went on to educate himself and now teaches history and English to middle school children in Gambia.

But a degenerative disease in his corneas is something Africa can't help him overcome. He's slowly losing his eyesight and doctors in his homeland can no longer help.

A chance meeting several years ago with Des Plaines native David Weber, a Peace Corps volunteer in Gambia, paved the way for Ukeh to finally get the help he needs.

Now Weber's family, which has welcomed Ukeh into its Des Plaines home while he's getting medical treatment, is finding the world a much smaller place.

"It's really wonderful to have someone here who's lived a different life than we have," said Janice Weber, David's mother. "He keeps reminding us how good we have it."

Ukeh will undergo surgery on his right eye Tuesday, and the Webers hope to raise enough money for the second surgery. They've raised $4,000 so far, with the help of First United Methodist Church in Des Plaines.

Since Ukey's been in Des Plaines for five weeks, the Webers have to try to get an extension on his visa for him to stay in this country long enough to complete both surgeries and rehabilitation.

Ukeh, a tall and soft-spoken single man who said he's still looking for the right woman, is just happy to be here and hoping to leave with better vision.

"It's been great," he said. "I've come this far for this. I am hopeful."

Trouble started early

Friday Ukeh was the first son to Andrew and Ester.

His parents gave him the name Ukoh, but he changed it to Friday as an adult. In Nigeria, where the official language is English, it isn't unusual to run into people who are named after days of the week, Ukeh said.

He blames a childhood case of the measles and poor medical facilities for his eye disease. Ukeh also blames the horrible conditions during the civil wars that ravaged his country in the late 1960s.

"I don't remember much," Ukeh said of the times during the war. "It was traumatic, very traumatic."

He does remember being very poor. It is something he still sees as an adult living in Gambia, a region off of Africa's western coast surrounded by Senegal.

"It would really be a shock to everybody to see how people live, how close we are to nature," he said. "People have a choice, either treating a headache or having food to eat."

Ukeh's eyesight has slowly deteriorated. His vision is particularly bad when he's reading or outside in bright sunlight - something that is difficult to avoid when you live near the equator.

"I'm able to read, but with much effort," Ukeh said. "I know how handicapped I am so I am able to adapt."

Robert Weber, David's father, likens it to trying to look through a fingernail.

"In America, it's probably legally blind," he said. "I don't think he remembers what normal sight is."

A friend for life

David Weber was working as an engineer in Itasca in 1998 after getting his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Illinois.

He decided he wanted to take his life in a different direction when he signed up with the Peace Corps. He was hoping Africa wouldn't be his assignment.

"I knew nothing about Africa," he said.

When he went to Gambia, he had to find a family to live with, learn the lay of the land and settle in. Friday Ukeh helped him with that, and more.

"We'd hang out. It was out in the middle of nowhere," David Weber said.

They kept in touch after Weber returned home in 2000. Friday Ukeh was trying to get treatment for his failing eyesight, but Gambian doctors couldn't help him anymore.

Weber, 28, offered to help and started sending e-mails to Chicago area ophthalmologists. Dr. Joel Sugar from the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago responded, offering to help. Sugar is doing the surgery for free, but Ukeh has to come up with the rest of the cost.

The Webers went to work securing permission from Africa and the United States for Ukeh to make the trip here for treatment.

David Weber, who was living in Des Plaines at the time, thought he'd be home for Ukeh's visit, but later took a job as a camp counselor in Indiana.

He credits his parents and sister, Jennifer, for making a home for Ukeh.

"They took a leap of faith," David Weber said of his family.

The Webers' compelling story is the reason other members of Des Plaines' First United Methodist Church are taking up the cause, the Rev. Greg Eaton said.

"That's just a wonderful image. The idea that the world is quite a bit bigger than your own back yard," Eaton said. "It doesn't get more real or concrete than that."

Gift: Church congregation has joined family's effort to help



Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
Improvements needed in Volunteer Support ServicesWhere the Peace Corps Bill stands
Dodd's Amended Bill passes in SenateElection 2002:  RPCVs run for office
Peace Corps Volunteers Safe in Ivory CoastA Profile of Gaddi Vasquez
Sargent Shriver and the Politics of Life911:  A Different America
USA Freedom Corps - "paved with good intentions"PCV hostage rescued from terrorists


Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
GAO reports on Volunteer Safety and SecurityPeace Corps out of Russia?
Help the New Peace Corps Bill pass CongressUSA Freedom Cops TIPS Program
Senior Staff Appointments at Peace Corps HeadquartersFor the Peace Corps Fallen
Senator Dodd holds Hearings on New Peace Corps LegislationThe Debate over the Peace Corps Fund
Why the Peace Corps needs a Fourth GoalThe Peace Corps 40th plus one
The Case for Peace Corps IndependenceThe Controversy over Lariam
The Peace Corps and Homeland SecurityDirector Vasquez meets with RPCVs
RPCV Congressmen support Peace Corps' autonomyPeace Corps Expansion:  The Numbers Game?
When should the Peace Corps return to Afghanistan?Peace Corps Cartoons



Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Nigeria; COS - Ghana; Service; Special Interest - Eye Surgery

PCOL1602
94

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: