Premabai is 65 and lives in a small house in Kurawar, a village in Madhya Pradesh, India. She lives with eight other members of her family – her two married daughters, their husbands and their children.
The family runs a small barber shop. Premabai helps at home by caring for her grandchildren while her children work to support the family. She cooks and cleans up around the house, helping with daily tasks.
Premabai is a happy and independent woman who enjoys taking care of her family, but her happiness was threatened by her fading vision.
Her vision started to blur about a year ago. She felt herself slow down, unable to see what she was doing. Without her sight, what could she do?
“I worried that I would become dependent on my family,” she says. “Without my sight, I couldn’t do anything around the house. I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to play with my grandchildren anymore.”
Though she wanted to seek treatment, Premabai feared the cost would be too high for her family to afford. Feeling helpless, she resigned herself to a future of darkness.
One day, a community health worker trained through your support came to Premabai’s home and screened her eyes. Then and there she was referred to the Kurawar Vision Center for diagnosis!
At the vision center, Premabai was diagnosed with cataract. She was referred to our partner, Sewa Sedan Eye Hospital, where she received sight-restoring cataract surgery free of charge.
Now Premabai is happier than ever! She has her sight and her independence back. Most importantly, she can see her grandchildren to care for them and play with them again.
Generous donors like you have made it possible for thousands of women like Premabai to regain their independence and get back to spending time with their loved ones.
Sadly, there are thousands more women like Premabai who are still living with avoidable blindness. Your donation could restore sight and hope to more women in need. Give the gift of sight today!
Twelve-year-old Hellen was struggling so much at school that she eventually dropped out. What was the point if she could hardly see to keep up with her studies?
At home, she couldn’t help her mother pick up groceries from nearby shops because she couldn’t see to walk alone.
“I depended on my siblings to do my chores, and my mother thought I was being lazy. She didn’t understand my problem,” says a frustrated Hellen.
As her vision deteriorated, Hellen not only stopped studying – she stopped playing with other kids her age.
Thanks to YOU, there was hope.
Hellen’s life changed the day her teacher screened her eyes at school and referred her for treatment at our partner hospital. Hellen was diagnosed with bilateral cataract and received sight-restoring surgery as well as a pair of prescription eyeglasses.
“Since the operation, my life took another turn,” says Hellen happily. “With my sight back, I’ve made new friends, and I’m confident in my future. I’m grateful for the support I received. Without it, I would still be at home.”
Donors like you made it possible for children like Hellen to see their futures in focus. There are thousands more children like her who are struggling with treatable blindness and low vision. Make a donation today to help keep kids in school and give them hope for a brighter future – For All The World To See!
Sabitri is 51 and lives in a small hut in Milanpoly, a village in West Bengal, India. She has three sons, but all of them live with their own families. Living alone, Sabitri is completely dependent on her job as a house maid for money for food, shelter and other essentials.
One day Sabitri’s vision started to blur, and she found she had trouble keeping up with her everyday tasks at work.
"I was extremely afraid," she said. "If I lost my sight, I was on my own. There is no one to take care of me, and if I couldn’t work to support myself, I don’t know what I would have done."
Because Sabitri was already struggling financially, she didn’t seek treatment because she couldn’t afford it. Even if she could afford it, she didn’t know where to go for help.
Thankfully, a community health worker trained through your support came to Sabitri’s door and screened her eyes. She told Sabitri about Operation Eyesight and referred her to the Islampur Vision Center for diagnosis.
Thanks to YOUR support, the Islampur Vision Center was close enough for Sabitri to attend for an appointment.
At the vision center, Sabitri was told she was suffering from bilateral cataracts. She was referred to our partner, Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital, where she received the surgeries she needed free of charge – all thanks to YOU!
Now Sabitri is happier than ever! She has her sight back and she can continue to work to support herself. Donors like you restored her hope for the future.
“After my surgery I can see clearly and I’m back to earning a living,” says Sabitri. “Thank you!”
Our generous donors have made it possible for thousands of women like Sabitri to regain their independence and get back to participating in their communities. Sadly, there are thousands more women like Sabitri who are still living with avoidable blindness. Your donation could restore sight and hope to more women like her. Give the gift of sight today!
Many donors have creative ways to raise money, but Roland Kuerzdoerfer’s was unique! Roland, who passed away in 2017, was a loyal supporter who never missed a chance to help. His wife Marja says he used to watch out the window when it snowed. Their “crooked little house” is in Ontario’s ski country, which sees a lot of snow and slippery roads. Roland knew that with snow, came opportunity.
Roland would watch a car slide into a snow bank and go to rescue the passengers, but first, he’d ask them to donate to Operation Eyesight. Everyone paid up.
“Operation Eyesight was his favourite charity, and pulling cars out was his favourite activity,” Marja says. “He was a Rotarian and supported international causes.”
The road is now paved, and few get stuck. We’re very grateful for Roland’s creativity and for Marja’s long-time support! Thank you!
As Roland knew, there are many ways that you can support our sight-saving work. Learn more here.
Wow! On June 10 we celebrated the part people like YOU played in transforming hundreds of communities through the gift of sight in 2018. Our Annual Impact Celebration, held in Calgary, was a blast – and YOU made it happen! We had so much to celebrate; just take a look at our Annual Report to SEE how much people like YOU made possible in 2018.
We were especially excited to introduce you to Alice Mwangi, our country manager in Kenya. Alice has been with Operation Eyesight since 2011 and has 15 years’ experience in development work in various areas including eye health, women empowerment, HIV/AIDS and general health. She has a master’s in public health and a post-graduate diploma in planning and management in development projects. She’s also a full-time mom of two teenage daughters.
Those wrinkled feet. That scrunched up button nose. Those tiny little fingers. Their chest, rising and falling. Their soft little eyelids fluttering.
How many times did you just sit there, gazing lovingly at your new baby, watching them sleep, so peacefully, so innocently?
I’m sure you remember the very first moment you laid eyes on your son or daughter. That first glimpse of my precious baby girl is a moment I hope I never forget.
It’s also a moment I’ve reflected on many times. And every time, I’m overwhelmed by a feeling of gratitude.
I’m so grateful that I can SEE my daughter and watch her grow. I see her raise and furrow her eyebrows as she concentrates intently on a new toy. I see her break into a giant smile when I arrive to pick her up from daycare. I see her father reflected in every little expression she makes.
I’m also incredibly grateful that she can SEE me. Sometimes, as I’m rocking with her before bed, she just stares up at me, her beautiful blue eyes piercing my soul. She’ll cradle my cheek in her little hand, just as I’ve done to her many times.
Living in Canada, I know that I’m fortunate to have access to quality health care, and fortunate that eye care is embedded in our health care system. I know all too well that this isn’t the case for millions of people around the world.
One of the very first decisions I had to make as a new mom was whether or not to give my daughter an eye antibiotic to help prevent infection, a routine procedure done right in the hospital after a baby is born. The fact that I even had the option is incredible.
When my daughter was six months old, I excitedly took her to the eye doctor for her first eye exam, which was provided free of cost. When she got her first case of pink eye, I was able to get her a prescription right away. Both times, I felt incredibly lucky to have these services available to me and my family.
Today, my toddler’s (I still can’t believe she’s a toddler already!) favourite accessory is her sunglasses, which she calls her “eyes”. Yes, my girl, you can wear your “eyes” every time we leave the house, as you insist. I’ve been taught how important it is to protect your eyes from the sun, and we’re fortunate to live in a country where we have access to affordable sunglasses and other eyewear.
As Mother’s Day approaches and I reflect on my journey as a new mom, I can’t help but think of the mothers living halfway around the world, suffering from avoidable blindness and trying so desperately to care for their families with limited vision. Many of them don’t know that help is available, or they can’t afford treatment. Often all they need is a simple cataract surgery to restore their sight, their dignity, their hope.
I also think of the moms who are helplessly watching their children suffer from avoidable blindness, worrying what kind of future they’ll have if they can’t see to go to school and someday find employment. Many don’t know that a pair of prescription eyeglasses could transform their child’s life forever.
While it can be easy to be overcome with guilt and sadness as I think of these mothers, I find comfort in knowing this: there is a solution, and I can help.
By supporting Operation Eyesight, I can help these mothers and their children. I can help community health workers screen families for eye health problems and refer patients for care. I can help Operation Eyesight’s partner hospitals provide cataract surgeries, prescription eyeglasses and other treatment free of charge for those in need.
I might never meet the families I am helping, but I know that, as a monthly donor to Operation Eyesight, I’m transforming lives, month after month, year after year.
You can help, too.
This Mother’s Day, I invite you to make a donation in honour of your mother and mothers everywhere. You can even send your mom (or sister, or mother-in-law, or grandma or daughter) a customized eCard when you give a gift in her name.
Every mother has the right to see her child, and every child has the right to see their mother.
Thank you for your support, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms out there!
Meet Musokwe. She’s 72 and lives in a small village outside of Lusaka, Zambia.
Aly Bandali, our President & CEO, met her at one of our boreholes, where she was fetching water for her family, carrying her grandchild on her back in a large scarf.
She told Aly her story. She had lost her sight in both eyes due to cataract. When we came to her village to drill a borehole and create access to eye care, a community health worker met her and referred her to the hospital for sight-restoring surgery. But Musokwe was too afraid to go through with it.
Of course, the community health worker didn’t give up. She counselled Musokwe day after day, encouraging her to go for surgery and explaining to her how the process would work. At last, Musokwe agreed to the treatment.
And thanks to the support of incredible people like YOU, she has her sight back!
When Aly asked her if she was happy to be able to see her grandchild’s face, she was moved to tears of joy. She nodded, barely able to reply through her tears. She’s so grateful to be able to watch her beautiful grandchild grow up!
This heartwarming moment was captured on video. You can watch it on Aly’s Instagram account.
We’re so grateful to people like you for helping people like Musokwe and her community every day!
Thanks to your generous gifts, there are now boreholes serving communities in Zambia with safe and clean water, which helps prevent the spread of trachoma, a blinding eye disease.
Even more – because of you, people living in villages like Musokwe’s have access to eye care treatment like cataract surgeries. Thank you!
There are still so many people like Musokwe who need your help. Please give the gift of sight today – For All The World To See!
April seventh to the 14th is National Volunteer Week in Canada. To celebrate, we sat down with Blaire, Volunteer Program Coordinator, to ask her what makes our volunteers special.
What’s the best part about working with the volunteers?
“Honestly, it’s how enthusiastic the volunteers are to learn! They want to learn and help, and each of them has their own strengths that they bring to their role. Working with them has taught me to be more flexible and to understand that everyone has a different learning style. We teach each other when we work together!”
What do the volunteers bring to Operation Eyesight?
“They’re such a huge part of what we do! They’re the ones who make it possible to thank all our donors. They’re the ones writing all the thank you cards, making thank you phone calls to recent donors, they fold tax receipts and keep our office administration running. So much of our work is made possible by the work they do!”
What’s something unique about our volunteers?
“They’re from all walks of life – we have volunteers who are in high school, university, some of them are new moms, some are on disability, some of them are between jobs, seniors and so on. There is so much diversity among our volunteers, which means we get different perspectives and talents to draw from all the time. And they’re from all over the world, too!
A pleasant surprise is that some of our volunteers have found their own replacements when they leave, mostly for a job. They believe in the work they’re doing, and even though they have to move on to a different stage in their lives, they’ll refer a friend or family member to Operation Eyesight because they want to continue to be involved in some way and enjoyed their experience working on our team.”
What would you like to thank our volunteers for?
“For bringing joy to my work every day! They bring such good energy into the office when they come for their shifts. Even on Monday mornings when I’m still getting over the weekend, they come in cheerfully and brighten my day. They’re always an inspiration! And something I want them to know is that they are employees – they go through the same onboarding, they sign all the same paper work. They may be unpaid in money, but they’re paid in six figures – S-M-I-L-E-S. Not just our smiles here in the office, but in the bright-eyed smiles of the people whose lives are being changed with the gift of sight.”
Our volunteers do so much, and we can’t thank them enough. Happy National Volunteer Week to all volunteers out there – Thank you so much for all that you do!
(Pictured above: an Operation Eyesight-trained community health worker from India)
In poverty-stricken areas of developing countries, women are often expected to assume traditional gender roles, looking after the household and raising children. They are often less respected than men. They have few opportunities to pursue education and a career. Even if they dream of a more fulfilling job like Amita in Nepal (see Amita’s story on our International Women's Day page), they are often restricted to staying at home to look after their families.
Our Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Program model educates mostly women as community health workers (CHWs). These CHWs are fully trained to organize screening programs, conduct door-to-door surveys and get help for those who need it. They hold educational sessions about issues like maternal and pre- and post-natal health and teach people good eye health-seeking behaviour.
It’s a unique opportunity for women to work outside the home, earning an income and the trust and respect of people in the community as experts in their field. It’s also a great example for young girls in the community to see women succeeding in a career that makes a real difference.
Since the start of this program, hundreds of women have made an impact on their communities as CHWs. It’s because of their diligent work that we have been able to declare over 1,000 villages
avoidable blindness-free... and counting!
Your support for this program has empowered women in these villages to become eye health experts and transform their communities. Thank you so much!
March 8th is International Women's Day, and people like you are making a huge impact in the lives of women and their communities through your support. Since March 3rd, we've posted a story each day about a woman whose life was changed thanks to people like you. You can read those stories here.
You can empower more women by making a donation to our sight-saving programs today. Happy (early) International Women's Day!
If you have a family of your own, whether you have kids or even grandkids, you might be thinking about how you can help support them today, tomorrow and in the future. For people like Prisila, the concern was being able to support her family while she’s still alive. But when her world went dark, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to help her family again.
Prisila is 76 years old and lives in a small village in India where most families make their living with farm work.
She’s a lively person whose age doesn’t stop her from caring for her family. Having lost her husband years ago, Prisila provided for her seven children – and then their children – all on her own, doing farm work and odd labor jobs.
“To me, family is everything,” says Prisila proudly.
But four years ago, Prisila’s world went dark.
She thought allergies were causing her blurry vision and hoped it would pass. Sadly, her vision faded until she couldn’t see at all. She didn’t know she could be treated, so Prisila didn’t seek help.
“I was so scared without my vision. I couldn’t care for my grandchildren anymore!”
But people like you changed Prisila’s life. Thanks to donor support, a community health worker was trained to go door-to-door in Prisila’s community to screen families for eye health issues. The health worker referred Prisila to a vision centre where she was diagnosed with cataract in both eyes. From there, she was referred to our partner hospital for surgery free of charge.
Thanks to compassionate people like you, Prisila can SEE again, and her independence has been restored! Today, she’s back to happily caring for her grandchildren.
There are thousands of families like Prisila’s who need your help. By leaving a gift to Operation Eyesight in your will, you can ensure that people like Prisila will receive the gift of sight even after you're gone.