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.

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During September, Aly will be visiting our project countries to meet with our international team and participate in 30 days of jam-packed activities, including inaugurating a vision centre, visiting an avoidable blindness-free village, touring some of our partner hospitals and participating in meetings with our staff, partners and eye health colleagues.

With so much ahead, we’re eager to follow Aly’s travels on social media, as he’ll be tweeting live updates when he can. Follow him on Twitter to stay up-to-date!

Aly will be representing our Canadian team and donors during his travels. “This trip is an opportunity for me to communicate the gratitude of our Calgary team and all our donors to our international teams for the work they do,” he says. “And also to connect our Calgary team with our international teams and strengthen the bonds between us.”

But this trip won’t just be business for Aly. “On a personal level, I’m representing my family. This is a chance for my parents and grandparents to give back to our home country through me. I haven’t been back to East Africa since moving to Edmonton with my family as refugees when I was two years old.” Aly says he’ll be carrying his family history with him as he sets foot on home soil for the first time in years, and it will be an emotional return for him.

We asked Aly what he hopes to leave behind and what he hopes to bring back to Canada…

“What I hope to leave with our international teams is a connection to me, to our Calgary office, so they know that we’re more than just distant names and titles. There’s a fire we share, and we can relate to each other through our mutual passion. 

What I hope to gain and bring back is the ability to absorb my experience and harness it as motivation for myself and for our Calgary office, our supporters and volunteers. I want to inspire them, so they know that together we can achieve more – do more to make our mission to eliminate avoidable blindness a reality.”

Aly is looking forward to seeing our work first-hand for the first time.

“I’ll be experiencing the outcomes of the work we do, seeing the results of our team’s hard work and dedication, and seeing the work that our donors have made possible. I want to empower our international staff, and I hope to let them know that they have my full support to continue doing the work they’re doing.

I also want to build new partnerships and strengthen existing partnerships. I want to let the world know that Operation Eyesight is making serious strides towards accomplishing our mission. And to do that, I’m going to challenge our stakeholders – our allies, volunteers, donors – to rally behind us and scale up with us, so we can reach more people in need and make an even greater impact.”

Is this outside of Aly’s comfort zone? He says that yes, it absolutely is – but that’s just how he wants it.

“I want to get a little uncomfortable. I grew up with a western perspective, so at times I’m going to be uncomfortable with what I see and hear and smell. It will all be unfamiliar and different. Communicating will be difficult, which means I’m going to be vulnerable. It will be an emotional time, and I need to be okay with that.”

We wish Aly all the best on his travels. There will be so much we can learn from his experience, and we’re all looking forward to hearing his stories and sharing them with you, our supporters.

Stay tuned to our blog and social media for more updates from Aly throughout September. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you don’t miss an update.

The post Aly’s emotional journey begins appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

When Sushila saw the life-changing work Sonam was doing, she was fascinated and immediately knew that she wanted to get involved. But sadly, at the time there were no vacancies for more health workers, and Sushila was turned away. Feeling defeated, she returned home.

Some time passed. One day, Sonam visited Sushila to tell her that she was leaving her position for personal reasons. She told Sushila there would be a job opening.

Sushila didn’t even think twice; she was ecstatic about the opportunity!

Unfortunately, her family wasn’t. Her husband was particularly bothered by the idea of his wife going door-to-door in the community. But Sushila was relentless, and in the end her passion for the job won out over even the cynicism of her husband. Sushila became a community health worker!

Her determination served her well, as she quickly became considered one of the most successful community health workers in her village. In just three months, she conducted door-to-door surveys of all households in 10 remote communities, and she found 89 patients who needed treatment. After a series of eye health education workshops and counselling, Sushila convinced most of the patients to receive treatment that would restore or save their eyesight.

However, there were still 14 blind villagers who refused all treatment. Not to be deterred, Sushila tirelessly visited them every day, taking successfully-treated patients of the village to speak to those who were still resistant, and to counsel them in the ways in which treatment could restore and improve their quality of life.

It took Sushila six months’ of hard work to finally convince the other 14 patients. She had to involve religious leaders and neighbours in her community to spread the word about the ways in which treatment had changed people’s lives for the better. Finally, thanks to the incredible generosity of supporters like you, they received treatment free of charge to them and their families!

Not only that, but after working with Operation Eyesight for the last few years, Sushila’s community has officially been declared “Avoidable Blindness-Free”!

What started as an enthusiastic dream has turned into an incredible career. Now Sushila is a celebrated local household name, known for her unrelenting dedication to helping her community.

Sushila is one of many women who is working night and day to help her community. Thanks to the support of people like you, she received training to screen patients for eye health issues and she has also been trained to counsel her patients when they refuse to accept treatment. We need more incredible women like Sushila to help us in the fight to end avoidable blindness. And you can make this possible by donating to our Screening and Outreach program today!

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