John Fawcett dies on an operating table, comes back to life with amnesia, and has no idea why he is about to change the lives of 25 000 blind Balinese.

God Made Them Blind is an inspirational story about how Australian ceramicist, John Fawcett, is devoting his life to reducing the enormous number of cataract blind people in Indonesia, after narrowly escaping his own death….twice. His biggest challenge however, is convincing a nation that blindness is not God’s punishment.

Four years in the making, the film it reveals how John’s life-altering quest brings him into conflict with Hindu beliefs in Karma and black magic, resulting in profound personal transformations on both sides.

John Fawcett’s life has been full of ‘impossibles’. In 1983, after a medical accident, he was pronounced clinically dead. He finally woke up, was given a week to live. He ignored this deadline and consequently lost his job, his life, his family and a wife he couldn’t recognise.

But this potter from Perth greatest challenge still lay before him. After a slow but miraculous recovery in which his photographic memoryfully returned, he was asked by the Governor of Bali to help nurse an ailing Indonesia people, back to health.

God Made Them Blind is a story about faith, tenacity, a clash of cultures and personal transformation. Our Australian hero will understandably face many challenges along the way, but ironically the greatest resistance will come from the very people he is trying to help. Slowly but surely this gentle man coaxes a fearful population to understand that the Hindu rules of Karma and the miracle of modern medicine can co-exist on the Island of the Gods.

Further information on the John Fawcett amd Indonesia see:

The Jakarta Post and Bali Eye both have articles on John Fawcett and his work, the former looking also at the making of God Made Them Blind, while the latter focuses on the work of The John Fawcett Foundation. You can also find further information on The John Fawcett Foundation on the Results Foundation website.

For more general information on Bali and Indonesia the Wikipedia entries are a good starting point, and if your interest leans towards the medical issues Blindness gives exhaustive explanations of various sight related ailments including cataracts.