Annual Report 2021

2021 ANNUAL REPORT

THANK YOU

I write this letter having just returned from a trip to India, where I saw first-hand the impact our partners, staff and volunteers have in the lives of patients and families, every day.

Speaking with our health workers in the community and patients who have undergone sight-restoring cataract surgery has been a rather emotional experience for me. Sharing in their joy at seeing again and being able to live independently has been the highlight of my travels. Wherever I have travelled and in various languages and dialects, the message to me has been the same: Thanks!

2021 was a landmark year for Operation Eyesight.

Last year, we raised $5.16 million. I’m excited about this accomplishment not only because we achieved our fundraising goal. I’m excited because our teams are seeing the impact our donors and partners have every day in communities where we work. None of this would be possible without you.

It’s the resilient communities we work alongside that help ensure our impact is sustainable and long-lasting. It’s our donors and partners who give their time, energy and resources to make our vision a reality. It’s the frontline staff, volunteers, eye care professionals and physicians who are our first point of contact with patients in the community and who directly touch the lives of children, women and men every day. None of this would be possible without our people.

A big part of our success in 2021 was the strength and collaboration between our international teams across continents and time zones. Despite the distance, our teams have never been clearer in our mission and how to achieve it. Our people’s presence on the ground and in communities meant that we especially felt the aftershocks of the pandemic.

In these challenges, we found new opportunities to strengthen local health systems and impact lives. Our people’s ability to adapt and be nimble has only made us better at what we do best.

In 2021, we saw traffic to our website grow by nearly 70 per cent, accompanied by a 35 per cent increase in online giving. In 2022, we look forward to engaging with you across our digital channels, especially on social media.

As we enter our 60th year and work gets underway to expand our programs into more countries, we have much to celebrate. Together, we are poised to have a greater impact than ever before. When I see the work our teams do every day, the strength of our partner communities, and the passion of our partners and donors, I know our work is in capable hands.

Yours truly,

Kashinath “Kash” Bhoosnurmath
President & CEO

YOUR GLOBAL IMPACT IN 2021

1.68 million

people screened for eye conditions

168,776

life-changing eye surgeries

29

villages declared avoidable blindness-free

1,127

community health workers and volunteers trained

186,400

pairs of prescription eyeglasses dispensed

77,140

students and school staff screened for eye conditions

31

water boreholes rehabilitated

31

new vision centres established

811,771

impressions on social media


WHERE WE WORK


WHERE WE WORK


WHO WE ARE

We are 55 staff and 550 volunteers worldwide. We are hundreds of communities of work. We are a network of 10,000+ donors, 20 partner institutions and 54 partner hospitals. Together, we are a global team working to make avoidable blindness a thing of the past.

For nearly six decades, we have been partnering with communities, empowering leaders and bringing life-changing eye health care to people who need it most.

We leverage the unique strengths of our communities of work and recruit community members to become local eye health champions – champions like Sonam from India. As one of the nearly 2,000 women and men who make up our worldwide team of community health workers and volunteers, Sonam provides assessment, specialist referral, follow-up and public health education to others in her community. Read more of Sonam’s story on page 6.

It’s our team’s presence in communities across eight countries and our partnership with local health providers and hospitals that allows us to create impact that is both enduring and sustainable. It enabled us to provide life-changing surgery to nearly 169,000 people in 2021.

By equipping communities with the resources and tools to care for their own eye health, we’re working to declare entire regions avoidable blindness-free – like the Kamariny Ward of Kenya, where we have declared 30 villages free of avoidable blindness.

We partner with governments and other organizations and identify opportunities to improve eye care within existing health systems. That’s why in 2021 we supported the training of 896 frontline medical staff in primary eye care worldwide – people like Joana, who is pursuing a degree in ophthalmic nursing at Ghana’s Ophthalmic Nursing School, thanks to the generosity of our donors. Read Joana’s story on page 8.

Restoring sight is just the beginning. Our people are addressing the root causes of blindness, including bringing access to fresh water and sanitation in countries like Zambia, where our work drilling and restoring boreholes is bringing new life to communities and giving girls like Natasha the chance to attend school full time. Read Natasha’s story on page 18.

We are a global community. Together, we are advancing our mission to prevent blindness and restore sight – For All The World To See.


Visit our country pages for latest updates


2021 FINANCIALS

Thanks to the compassion of our global community, 2021 was a year of success for Operation Eyesight. Despite another challenging pandemic year, we met our revenue goals while also taking steps to reduce costs and bring eye care services closer to communities.

Although COVID-19 restrictions at times limited our regular program activities globally, we found ways to work virtually and, as a result, our administrative costs remained present.

We received $5.16 million in donations from individuals, service clubs, institutional partners and foundations, as well as through legacy gifts.

Of note, we saw a significant increase in investment and stock donations. We are also incredibly grateful for the bequests we received in 2021, totalling nearly $370,000.

We remain committed to ensuring that every gift has the most impact in our communities of work, so every dollar donated directly translates into lives changed.

We know that 2021 was a challenging year for many, and we are incredibly grateful for supporters like you who continued to help transform lives through the gift of sight. Thank you!

For detailed financial information, please visit our financial accountability page.


DONORS ($5,000+)

The transformational impact we are having together is made possible by the generosity of donors. We are grateful to all our donors, including legacy, annual and monthly donors, for their ongoing support. Due to space limitation, we are listing donors of $5,000 and higher.

CORPORATIONS

Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.

Karen Booth and Jonathan Huyer

Kyle T. Farms Ltd.

Les Productions Eclipse

Meadowlark Resources Corp.

Port Royal Mills

Transleaders Inc.

ESTATES

Estate of Martin Wason Albright

Estate of Lois Alger

Estate of Lewis J. Baines

Estate of Helena Balczewska

The Eileen Egan Alter Ego Trust

Estate of Catherine Elizabeth Frame

Estate of Margaret Vejgaard Gallagher

Estate of Hannelore Helene Gewers

Estate of Phyllis Maureen Ireton

Estate of Clara Lahmer

Estate of Merrill Lathem

Estate of Ferdinand Martin

Estate of Jean Morris

Estate of Mary Neale

Estate of Maureen Nye

Estate of Mary Katherine Pletz

Estate of Constance Jill Sewell

Estate of Eliseo Spagnolo

Estate of Ruth Maureen Stonier

Estate of Selma A. Thompson

Estate of Esme Florence Thornton

FOUNDATIONS

Christine A. Sethi-Van Impe Foundation through the Victoria Foundation

DKM Foundation

Dorothy May Kelly Fund through the Victoria Foundation

Dr. Charles and Margaret Brown Foundation

Ethan and Joan Compton Sub Fund at Calgary Foundation

Jack and Doris Brown Foundation

Ted & Enid Jansen Fund at Calgary Foundation

The Lawrason Foundation

The P & P Murray Foundation

The Peter Gilgan Foundation

Toronto Theosophical Society

Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation

GRANTS

Optometry Giving Sight

Sightsavers International

United States Agency for International Development

TRIBUTE GIFTS

Lucy Koziol in memory of my
husband, Dr. Jan K. Koziol

Elfriede Streu in loving
memory of Henry Streu

INDIVIDUALS

Karen and Bill Barnett

Robert James Burns

Marty Cutler, Marilyn Minden
and Family

Judy Farvolden

Jeremy Francispillai

Steve Gallant

Anthony Gray

Marco Guerreiro Viegas

Agnes Hohn

James Killam

Marlene and Alexander Mackenzie

John and Elizabeth MacLeod

Delores Marko

Paul McCaughan

David L. McIntosh

Marie McNaughton

Michael and Cherry Mockler

Rosemary Nation

Nashila Noor-Ali

Daniel Parlow

Penelope Pattison

Diane Pezzini

Chitra Ramaswami

Jane Ramin

Mary Reid

Doreen Richards

Ralf and Helga Schmidtke

C. Smith

Eric and Vizma Sprott

The Late Gloria Taylor

Suresh R. Tulsiani

V. Jean Wilson