Eye Health Hero: Murk Larik

Murk Larik is a 27 years old management graduate. She has 10 years of professional experience in Human Resource and Project Management in Health, Education, and Information Technology streams of different cooperate and government sectors. She is also a media producer, data analyst, photographer, and graphic designer.
She has been managing Pakistan Trachoma Elimination Project at District Kamber Shahdadkot, the rural district in Sindh Province, since 2018.

Her innovativeness and ingenious approach in conducting the project activities is unmatched. She has initiated a tele-trachoma service with an aim to raise awareness, and ensure identification, verification, and prevention of blinding trachoma through a phone, a very accessible service. Her method to change the behaviors of teachers and students through jingles, puppet shows, theater performances, wall paintings, behavior change communication material, and creative games has already shown great potential, especially during the Covid-19 lockdown period. To integrate inclusiveness and accessibility in an impoverished district like Kamber Shahdadkot was a challenge in itself but by constructing 214 accessible WASH Facilities in 97 schools, she has proved that anything can be achievable with untiring efforts. This project is one of its kind with more than 20 district stakeholders engaged in eliminating trachoma and promoting health and hygiene practices.

She has been adopting inclusive approaches while celebrating UN Days by reaching out to the most vulnerable groups: i.e. persons with disabilities, nomads, widows, transgender, orphans, street children, farmers, and scheduled caste. She has always integrated the national drive to integrate the health and environment into her project in an extraordinary way. Her efforts to hybridize the preventive measures of COVID 19 and trachoma through radio announcements, cellular messages, print media, telefilms, online workshops, short films, and TV shows have been widely acknowledged. With her innovative approaches, she has been contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals, working towards a sustainable and better future to the district.

“Eyes are not only organs of vision but our connection to the universe. They connect us with the beauty and knowledge of the world. Every person on earth deserves to discover the existence of being through his/her eyes. The challenges of inaccessibility, exclusion, decrepit approaches and lack of awareness are casting dark shadows on our societies. This world needs a hero who can shed light on the darkness by instituting innovative and creative ways to advocate preventive eye health care.”

– Murk Larik