In her early days, she ran a child care centre in her community, using the money she’d make from sewing and selling clothes in the village to support the centre and the nearly 200 children enrolled.

During her first meeting with a member from our team, she was very happy to hear that people in her community would have access to quality eye care, including her mother who was struggling with her own eye health.

It wasn’t until Jabow conducted her first door-to-door screening that she understood how widespread eye health issues really were in her community. Now she identifies patients who require eye care and refers them for treatment.

One of Jabow’s major accomplishments was her contribution to the construction of a road leading into the village. A mobile eye unit was scheduled to come to the village, but residents were concerned that the unit wouldn’t reach them because of the road’s poor condition. But Jabow didn’t lose any hope. She rallied the young men in the village and requested government support for the road construction. A month later, the road was completed, and the mobile eye unit reached the village!

Jabow is respected and trusted by those in her community. Her work has made it possible for many children, women and men to receive sight-restoring eye treatments that have transformed their lives. Her community has given her the nickname “didi”, which means elder sister who cares for everyone’s health.

Because of you, Jabow will continue serving her community, and she is looking forward to declaring her village as avoidable blindness-free.

Thank you so much for being a part of Jabow’s story, and for being a part of her community’s story. You’ve already helped so many people, and together we can help so many more!

Let’s eliminate avoidable blindness – For All The World To See!

The post A lady with a mission to serve her community appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

“I’m Victoria and I’m a 17-year-old Chinese Canadian currently living in Toronto. In the fall I hope to study illustration. Meantime, I have a part-time job as an art instructor. As soon as I started working, I made the decision to donate a third of my paycheque to a charity of my choice.

I found a website listing the most accountable international charities, and Operation Eyesight was on that list.

I think eyesight is the most important thing to me as an artist. To think there are people living in poverty who suffer with avoidable sight loss makes me realize how important my sight is. Because of this, I want to give others the same privilege. Donating to cure blindness can last someone their whole life.

I wanted to get a job so that I could decide where to donate my money. Donating $100 was a lot to me, but it felt like the right thing to do. I asked myself, what was I going to do with $100 anyway? By donating to Operation Eyesight, I can give people sight-saving eye surgeries, so they can see for the rest of their lives. 

After donating, I felt like I was part of something bigger and beyond myself. I didn’t feel entitled to the money, and letting it go to a cause felt good.

I encourage others to donate to charities and organizations as well, because donating is such a good feeling. Especially if it’s for a cause you stand behind.”

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Victoria! We’re so grateful for your support.

Tell us your story! How and why do you support Operation Eyesight? Call us toll-free at 1-800-585-8265 or email us at info@operationeyesightindia.org. We’d love to hear from you!

The post This young artist is giving the precious gift of sight and changing lives! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Across India and Nepal, 15 partner hospitals marked their achievements in the elimination of avoidable blindness and raised awareness about eye health. Their biggest accomplishment? The declaration of a spectacular 281 avoidable blindness-free villages by eight hospitals. Wow!

Here’s what else they did:

• Inaugurated four Vision Centres. Two are from Fateh Bal Eye Hospital in Nepal and two from Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital Trust and the Sundarban Social Development Centre, both in India.
• Three hospitals in India conducted screening programs and dispensed eyeglasses in their project areas. They screen a total of 565 individuals, dispensed 58 pairs of prescription eyeglasses and referred 78 patients for eye surgery.
• Our partners at Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital Trust and the Vittala International Institute of Ophthalmology held rallies to increase education about eye health, which were well received.

Please take a moment and share in their warm glow of accomplishment. We wish you could have been there, but we’ll have to settle for a great big THANK YOU for making all this work possible.

The post World Sight Day? How about World Sight Week! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

We’ve been working in Kerala since 1973, as part of our long-term development strategy to eliminate avoidable blindness in India.” While we’re not a disaster relief organization, Little Flower Hospital came to us, explaining the severity of the situation and asking us for help. We already have the processes and resources in place to provide immediate eye care to those in need, and we’re eager to help.

Hit by monsoon rains and torrential downpours, Kerala received over 222 cm of rainfall (40 per cent more than average) between June and August this year. Roads have been washed out and 80 per cent of the state was without electricity for almost a week. Homes were destroyed, leaving millions of people displaced and without any of their possessions, including their eyeglasses.

With the spread of waterborne bacteria, there is already a reported rise in eye infections – but people are unable to access eye care services for medicine or treatment. To make matters worse, there is a shortage of ophthalmic personnel and people are also unable to access their money to pay for services.

“We’re grateful to our donors who have given generously to our Greatest Needs Fund in the past, trusting us to put their donations to good use where it’s most needed in our work,” says Aly Bandali, our President & CEO. “This gives us the flexibility to be able to respond to situations like this.”

Little Flower Hospital has started conducting medical camps in relief camp sites, however, their resources are extremely limited, and thousands of people in need of medical assistance are being left out. Our team in India already has a plan in place to reach those who are unable to access, or afford, eye care services right now.

“We’ve started mapping out the areas where the need is greatest and will soon be mobilizing community outreach teams,” says Dr. Santosh Moses, our Regional Manager in South Asia. “At the health camps, we’ll screen people for eye problems and provide free eye care treatment for those in need. We’ll provide antibiotics to treat infection, new prescription eyeglasses, surgical treatment and other eye services as needed.”

Our organization has been working with Little Flower Hospital since 1975. As an international development organization, we’ve supported the establishment of the hospital’s eye department, enabling Little Flower Hospital to perform the first corneal transplantations in India. In addition, we’ve worked with eight other local eye hospitals in the past, at one point covering 10 out of the 14 districts in the state.

While we aim to integrate eye care services into the country’s existing infrastructure and ultimately help partner hospitals become self-sustaining, we’re also able to utilize its existing partnerships to react quickly to events such as the Kerala floods.

Your support means so much to so many! To help us to continue our sight-saving work in Africa and South Asia, you can donate $5 by texting “EYESIGHT” to 45678 or by going to our donation page.

The post Worst floods in a century have left people vulnerable, without access to eye care appeared first on Operation Eyesight.