Trachoma

Trachoma: Trachoma is a eye disease that leads to blindness. Trachoma can be treated with antibiotics. However, as it can be prevented by modern sanitation, it is rare in first-world countries while still endemic in the poorest areas of the world. The etymology is interesting. It shares its etymology with other eye diseases such as glaucoma. However, it also shares its etymology with trachea, the throat or windpipe, most famous for the desperate operation: tracheotomy. The common thread between trachoma and trachea is the Greek root for rough!

They let me through as far as Nam Dinh to see our trachoma team, and then I hired a boat.

Luck was with him and he got back to Hanoi with his trachoma team.