BRUNSWICK – A 5-year-old boy from Haiti who lost the sight in one of his eyes because of a rare disease will return to his home looking fine, thanks to free health care provided in Maine.

Romil Cineus came to Maine to have the diseased eye replaced with a prosthesis, said Tracey Peck-Moad, his host mother.

The boy suffers from Peter’s Anomaly, a rare condition characterized by increased pressure and swelling. It is caused by glaucoma and destruction of the optic nerve.

If all goes according to plan, Romil’s eye will be replaced July 7 at the Maine Eye Center in Portland. He will return to Haiti on Sept. 17.

Peck-Moad is a member of the Children’s Medical Mission, a volunteer organization that brings children from Third World countries to the United States for medical treatment.

“He is a wonderful little boy,” Peck-Moad said. “We had located care for him back in October, but we couldn’t get his visa because of the government insurrection.”

Romil, born in Arcahaie, was left by his mother at the Eden Garden Orphanage in Montrouis. “In Haiti a lot of kids are abandoned,” Peck-Moad said. “His mother couldn’t afford him.”

Romil’s adjustment has been smooth. The boy likes Peck-Moad’s two sons – Ian, a high school sophomore, and Taylor, a sixth-grader. And he also likes outings such as a recent movie.

“He loved ‘Shrek II,”‘ said Taylor Peck-Moad, 11. “Every time the donkey came out, we could hear Romil laughing from the back. The whole theater heard Romil.”

Romil and others like him must be granted a medical visa to receive treatment in the United States. The requirements for such a visa include that the child receive free care, that someone be responsible for all expenses, and that the child eventually return home, Peck-Moad said.