This was the incredible moment a little girl was able to see for the first time in six years after her bandages were removed following a twenty minute eye operation.
Monique, aged nine, had suffered cataracts so severe that she was pulled out of school and educated at home due to her blindness.
Her devoted grandmother, Melone, believed the little girl was misbehaving until she gradually realised her daughter was losing her eyesight.
Melone set up a makeshift classroom in their home in Cameroon, and patiently taught her granddaughter.
And she began to save up so Monique could have the operation she desperately needed.
But the pressure was taken off her when a boat operated by charity Mercy Ships docked nearby, and medics assessed Monique.
After a visit to the screening site, Monique was accepted for surgery and made her way to the Africa Mercy for the 20-minute operation that changed her life in January.
The morning after her surgery, her eye patches were slowly removed, and she returned to school in February.
Monique said: “I see everything! I see it all!”
Proud mum Melone added: “If she was any more excited, she’d lift up and start flying.”
Just over two weeks later, Monique put on her school uniform and returned to the classroom with her friends.
Retired teacher Melone added: “Every time I thought about Monique’s blindness it saddened me because I love her so dearly.
“Since she has had the surgery, everything is possible.
“She has been given the gift of hope, which is a huge blessing to our lives.”
Dr Glenn Strauss, volunteer ophthalmic surgeon, said: “Some people say with sympathy, ‘Look at those poor blind people.’
“But, I’ve never met people as courageous as those who are blind. Like Monique, they make their way up our gangway with the hope of being healed.”
Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 and has worked in more than 70 countries.
