Editor, Last week, I had the privilege of helping to guide three days of cornea surgeries—of watching Rwandans who couldn’t see with their eyes have a second chance at sight. Many were young people, people who had a chance to make an honest living for many years to come. But degenerative eye disease had crippled their abilities to provide for their families, and more importantly, see the ones they love. As I operated alongside doctors from the US and Rwanda, I wondered how many recipients of these corneas were farmers, teachers, craftsmen, and laborers, who had slowly lost their sight only to question if they would ever work again. I wondered how many were fathers and mothers who wanted desperately to see their future grandchildren, only to doubt that they’d see their own children to adulthood. And now they can. These “new” corneas were not machine-made. They weren’t manufactured in a factory somewhere far away. They were the eyes of people in the US who, before they died, knew the importance of giving to save a life. After the donors’ tragic death, their organs went to many people who now live as a result of their selfless generosity. Even in Rwanda, a half a world away! In organ donation, a person elects to allow doctors to use his/her organs at or before death. Often the most likely donors are those with terminal illnesses who understand that in their imminent death, many others can live. Our country is making great strides in organ donation, including the drafting of the “Organ Donation” law to be promulgated by H.E. President Kagame, which protects donors and patients in the event of organ donation. Rwanda will soon also have a Cornea Bank, where corneas will be harvested from donors and stored so that many more recipients will have a chance to see again. Organ donation is still rather foreign to we Rwandans. But with each transplant case, it becomes more familiar as those we love are spared and live to make more memories with us. As a father, a husband, a son and a brother, I implore Rwanda to begin the conversation about organ donation—what legacy will you leave when you die? You can save a life. Dr. Innocent NYARUHIRIRACEO, King Faisal Hospital, Kigali
