For residents of remote communities, getting from the village into the city for healthcare can be challenging at the best of times.

It’s especially difficult for those experiencing vision loss.

Now, thanks to a new 14-seat TATA Winger Van, residents in the state’s South Garo Hills have better access to eye health care. The vehicle is bringing health care workers to the area’s most remote villages to deliver eye screenings and referrals, and to transport patients who need further diagnosis or treatment to the Patharkhmah Community Health Centre.

Operation Eyesight’s Dr. Ritu Ghosh handed over the keys to the vehicle to Dr Sapna Dey, State Program Manager, NPCB & VI, with Mr. Ram Kumar, MD NHM of the Government of Meghalaya in February, and the patient transport vehicle is now serving communities in the region.

Thanks to Dan Parlow, member of the Operation Eyesight Canada Board of Directors, for the donation that made this patient transport vehicle possible!

The post New patient transport vehicle in Meghalaya appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Today we want to tell you the story of Jay, a 60-year-old man living in Lalitpur, Nepal with his wife and children. Jay and his family are poor, and they live in a small cottage. He does some farming and he owns a small shop.

Over time, Jay’s vision started to fade. He and his family didn’t know what to do because they didn’t think his condition could be treated. Jay’s family wanted to help him, but they couldn’t afford the treatment. What’s more, the nearest hospital was 12 km away, and he had no vehicle to get there.

“I was unable to do my daily activities. I couldn’t even recognize my friends and family anymore.” 

Because Jay was the breadwinner of the family, losing his sight not only made it impossible for him to do the work he needed to do, it also affected the household income.

With his vision deteriorating, and his income with it, he didn’t know what to do. What would happen if he couldn’t provide for his family?

One day, a community health worker trained by Operation Eyesight was doing a door-to-door survey and came to Jay’s cottage. The health worker screened the family for their eye health, and diagnosed Jay’s condition on the spot. He had cataract in both eyes! When the health worker told Jay that his condition was treatable, he could barely believe it.

“Finding out that I could be cured was awful! I knew my family couldn’t afford treatment. We didn’t have the money to pay.”

But thanks to the incredible generosity of people like you, Jay was treated at Operation Eyesight’s partner, the Nepal Eye Hospital, free of cost to him and his family!

Now, Jay can see again… and with his vision restored, he’s become independent and able to do his daily work. He’s even started a small teashop!

“Without the support of the health worker, we wouldn’t have known that I could be treated. We used to think that my vision loss was because I was getting on in age, and I didn’t think I would ever see again.” 

Jay is so grateful for the help he received. Now he knows he can support his family financially and emotionally.

“I am feeling better now that I can see things clearly. It feels like I’ve been born again!” 

Generous donors like YOU made this possible. Your support helped turn Jay’s life around. And Jay can’t say thank you enough.

“I’m very thankful to the community health worker and the eye hospital for everything they did for me throughout my treatment, and I want to thank the donors who made it possible for me to be treated!”

Your support means the world to people like Jay, but there are thousands of others like him who still need your help. Please consider donating to our cataract surgery program to give more people the Gift of Sight and hope for a brighter future!

The post Sight restored is like being born again appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Of course, none of Operation Eyesight’s work could happen without your generosity. And as a result, amazing things are happening. Big things – like vision centres and blindness prevention programs and even entire health care systems.

And the big things are even more astounding when we look at them as their individual parts. Remember Ruth? Ruth started having vision problems when she was just five years old. Her teacher and her parents feared for her future. She couldn’t see the board at school, no matter where she sat in the classroom.

For children living in Africa and Asia (especially girls), getting an education is the one sure path to building a brighter future. Without it, the future can look very dim.

Ruth, and many others like her, live in poor and remote communities. Because of this, they don’t have access to quality eye health care, or eye health care education. And even if they do, more often than not, they can’t afford the treatment they need.

But thanks to your support, Ruth, and others like her, have been given such a loving gift – the Gift of Sight! Ruth received cataract surgery free of charge to her and her family.

Your support has helped thousands of people in Africa and Asia to this day. And we at Operation Eyesight can’t thank you enough for opening your heart to those who aren’t as fortunate as we are, with access to quality health care. If you’re a Canadian, then your costs are even covered by the government.

What’s more is that we know there are all kinds of good causes out there, all vying for your attention.

It can be a real challenge to raise awareness about the plight of the blind of Asia and Africa… but that’s why we appreciate you so much. By supporting Operation Eyesight, you have extended your hearts and minds to people on the other side of the planet – people you’ve never met, but you care about them all the same. And that’s incredible!

We at Operation Eyesight have met many of the people you’ve helped, and they all say the same thing: “You have given me back my sight and now I can live again. Thank you, thank you!”

We may be the ones who hear these words, but our patients understand that their eyesight was restored because someone far away sent a generous gift. When they say thank you, they say it with heartfelt emotion, and they’re saying it to you.

And we at the Calgary office also want to say from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you! For all that you do – For All The World To See.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The post A warm “thank you!” from people around the world. appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

James was 51 years old when he went blind. He had lived unable to see out of his left eye for years, and one morning he woke up unable to see out of his right eye, either. When James could see, he worked as a brick-maker, supporting a family of six. The family resides in the Uasin Gishu County in Kenya, and they depended on James for their living.

James was in despair. “I couldn’t believe that I had just lost my only functional eye!” His family was equally at a loss. Suddenly, they seemed to be staring at an uncertain and bleak future. Without James’ income, they wouldn’t have enough to support themselves!

It was around election time in Kenya and James had been eagerly waiting to cast his vote for the leaders that he had put his faith in to change his and his family’s life. But to take advantage of any opportunities that could come from the results of the election, he needed to be strong and healthy, and able to see.

Yet there he was; unable to get by on his own. Frustrated and afraid, he felt he had become a dependent rather than the breadwinner of his family. Without sight, how was he to carry on his brick-making enterprise?

“I feared my business would crumble like half-baked bricks do when exposed to the slightest rain.”

Luckily for James, brighter days were just around the corner. James’ family was visited by a community health volunteer who informed them that medics from Huruma Sub-County Hospital’s Eye Unit were carrying out an outreach in the neighborhood. At the outreach camp, James was found to have bilateral cataracts and was booked for surgery at the hospital. The following week, James’ brother led him to the hospital.

It was a miracle! James received sight-restoring surgery on his left eye, which he had lost sight in years before his right, and he could see out of it again! A month later he had surgery on the right eye, and his vision was completely restored.

Now James has gone back to his brick-making business, which puts food on the table for his young family. What’s more is that he received surgery just in time for him to fully participate in the national general election, and to vote for his favourite leaders.

“It feels like getting a second chance at life. I took my eyes for granted but now I know what it means to be blind,” says James. “Now that I can see again, I will work hard and I know I will succeed.”

Thanks to the generous support of people like you, James received the Gift of Sight! Imagine! Your donation not only restored his vision, but his hope in the future for him and his family. There are many other families like James’ that need our help! Please consider donating to our cataract surgery program to give more people hope for a brighter future!

The post Restored eyesight builds hope for a brick-maker! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.