When the light returns

Leung said this story is a powerful testament to the deep bond between China and Africa as those names will carry that friendship forward over a lifetime.

Nestled in the Horn of Africa, Djibouti endures a harsh tropical climate with intense sunlight and strong UV radiation. Combined with limited access to healthcare and low living standards, these conditions have made cataract one of the leading causes of blindness in the country.

For many, the lack of qualified ophthalmologists meant living in darkness for years — until help finally arrived.In February 2023, a pregnant woman accompanied her father to a hospital in Djibouti City in eastern Africa, where he was scheduled to undergo cataract surgery.

The very next day brought not just one miracle, but two. As her father removed his bandages and saw the world clearly again for the first time in years, she gave birth to healthy twin boys at the same hospital.

In gratitude toward the Chinese medical team, she named her sons Charmarke and Awale — after members of the foreign aid program who had helped restore her father's sight.The story was told by Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former chief executive of Hong Kong, when attending a commemorative ceremony on June 6 in Taiyuan, the capital of North China's Shanxi province, to honor the medical team behind the cataract blindness elimination project in Djibouti.

Leung, also chairman of the Hong Kong-based GX Foundation, said the organization committed to providing medical and public health humanitarian aid to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The African twins' grandfather was among the first patients to benefit from a cataract blindness elimination project launched in Djibouti, a joint effort by the Health Commission of Shanxi province and the GX Foundation.