Cleaning onions is mainly done by women. The women wear no masks or glasses because they say they can work faster without and earn more. This is important because they are paid per kilo of cleaned onions. To prevent unnecessary blindness and eye problems here in the workplace the workers need to be better informed, have better working conditions (less dust, more clean water and good hygiene) and improved eye care.
Mrs. Lam Thi Sul is 40 years old and became blind as a result of her work in the onion plant. She is now a healthcare worker. Every day she spends part of her time in the onion plant. She talks to the workers who peel the onions and warns them that they must wear protective glasses to prevent blindness. Her message could not be clearer. It is both impressive and tragic to see how she is willing to use her own plight as an example to help prevent blindness in others.