Living in darkness with hope for a brighter tomorrow

Eisa Mohammad has spent his entire adult life caring for his mother. She lost her sight 40 years ago when his father left the UAE in search for new opportunities, never to return.

Since the early 1950s, Eisa and his mother were able to survive the changing times with only each other's support.

Eisa took care of his mother and let no obstacle prevent him from doing so, not even the fact that he himself has been blind since the age of 12.

"My sight began to weaken at ten," he said. "There were no hospitals then and no cure. My mother took care of me and taught me how to be a man without eyesight.

When she lost her sight, I took care of her. It was my duty and I swore to myself that she would always have my full support and that is what I tried to do."

Eisa's mother passed away a year ago from old age. He now spends his days in Satwa alone in a tiny, dark room with only a small mattress and a fan to keep him cool in the summer.

He surrounds one corner of his humble home with sacks of coal. When his mother was alive, they often cooked.

"Now I usually go to the grocery for food and have lost the taste for cooking. The coal keeps me warm during cold winter nights."

His father started out as a pearl diver in the UAE. When times began to change, he was forced to look for other work.

"I do not know how he died but I know he was in Iraq when it happened. He was an old man by that time.

"I have no children and we have family spread in different areas in the UAE. They come to visit me every now and then, but I am basically alone."

By renting out the six rooms of the house his father left him, Eisa is able to make ends meet. "I do not know my age, they tell me my passport says I am 55. I am a son of the UAE. There must be more the government can do to help my situation."

He is well-known in his neighbourhood. People shout greetings to Eisa and always receive a respectful reply.

Mohammad Kafique, a truck driver who rents one of Eisa's rooms, said, "It is hard for Eisa."

Kafique said Eisa living alone was not the only problem. "Many children in this area sneak into his house and try to steal the little money he has saved.

"What is most troubling is that once, Eisa caught one of these boys and called for me. I asked him if I should call the police. He answered: 'No, if the boy went to the lengths to steal from a blind man, than he must be poor so let him go'."

"My sight began to weaken at ten. There were no hospitals then and no cure. My mother took care of me and taught me how to be a man without eyesight."