As a health-focused organization, we have been vigilant in following ongoing recommendations from government authorities on COVID-19 in Canada and internationally. As an extension of our mandate to address eye health issues, general good health and well-being is a top priority for us. Starting this week, all of our staff members are working remotely from home. If you would like to contact us, please do so here. Our commitment is to keep our Operation Eyesight family safe, and to do our part to protect the community.

I’m sure you are also wondering about the effect on our overseas programs. Our leaders from our offices around the world are connecting to assess the situation on the ground to develop a list of urgent needs. As soon as we have this list, we will publish it to keep you up to date. Right now, we know that this crisis is preventing us from offering our outreach in communities who need us the most and that’s why we are pivoting as we learn how we can continue to make the most impact in the communities we operate.

Your support until now has prepared us for today.

Our communities are counting on us now more than ever and you are helping us keep our word to them. You are helping us continue to create impact amidst a global crisis. Thank you.

You have my word that we will be sharing updates with you as soon as we have them. Next week, you can expect a status update with more details about what efforts are needed to provide urgent support to communities around the world. I’m grateful knowing that we can count on your continued support. In the meantime, please ensure you are following us on social media where we will continue to communicate any significant changes that arise.

From our staff and our families, to you and your family, to our partners and beneficiaries in Africa and South Asia – we are all in this together. I’m sending wishes of safety and good health for you and your family.

Sincerely,


Aly Bandali
Former President and CEO

More on COVID-19

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Those who live long enough will experience at least one eye condition during their lifetime. Today, on World Sight Day, I encourage us all to make eye health a global priority. 

The burden of vision impairment weighs more heavily on low- and middle-income countries, and the global demand for eye care is set to surge in the coming years. We all have a role to play in making eye health a priority, both for ourselves here in Canada and for those around the world who are struggling needlessly with vision impairment.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its first-ever World Report on Vision, which highlights the critical need for global action in the fight against avoidable blindness. Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment, and of these, at least 1 billion people have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be treated.

The World Report offers concrete proposals to address significant challenges in eye care. The key proposal is to make integrated people-centred eye care, embedded in health systems and based on strong primary health care, the care model of choice and scale it up widely. We’ve already developed a successful eye care model that aligns with this recommended approach. Through our Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Model, we’re able to empower people to take control of their health and increase their adoption of health-seeking behaviour.

We work with local partner hospitals and governments to integrate eye care services into the primary health care systems, providing the same level of care to both paying patients and those who cannot afford to pay. Operation Eyesight-trained community health workers go door to door in vulnerable communities, screening people for vision problems, referring them for treatment, and educating them on eye health and general health. We first launched our Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Model in India in 2009, and have since expanded it to Nepal, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia with great success.

The World Report also recognizes the success of the WHO-endorsed SAFE strategy for trachoma elimination, which we’ve successfully implemented in Kenya and Zambia. In Zambia’s Sinazongwe district, where we’ve implemented all four components of the SAFE strategy (surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness and environmental improvement), the prevalence of blinding trachoma has been reduced from 14.5 per cent to 3.46 per cent.

With support from our donors, we’ve restored sight and prevented blindness for millions of people, but as the World Report reminds us, we still have a lot of work to do. Today, on World Sight, please consider making a donation and joining us in the global fight against avoidable blindness – For All The World To See.

The post World Sight Day: Time for us all to take action in the global effort to eliminate avoidable blindness appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Operation Eyesight has become tradition for the Hatfield family.

Sylvia Hatfield and her husband, Reverend Donald, first heard about Operation Eyesight from Donald’s mother, Mabel. “Mabel heard Art Jenkyns (founder of Operation Eyesight) speak just as he was getting started,” says Sylvia. “She told us she was supporting Art’s work to bring sight to the poor in India. We thought it was a fantastic idea.”

Don convinced the Canadian Forces Protestant Chapels to support what was then “Art Jenkyns’ little charity.” Sylvia told everyone in her Sunday School classes about Operation Eyesight.

“We love that Operation Eyesight is Canadian,” Sylvia says. “We truly believe in the cause. Giving someone back their sight may seem like such a small thing at first, but it’s far reaching. Being able to see again not only helps the individual and their family, but the entire community.”

Sylvia’s daughter Sara has been a donor for 30 years. Her passion for the charity grew “through osmosis.” Her first cataract surgery was at age 39. “If I’d been born in another country, I could very well be blind right now,” Sara says. She enjoys following in her grandmother’s footsteps and is happy we work sustainably, helping people to help themselves.

Thank you Mabel, Don, Sylvia and Sara. Your support means everything to us!

We’re so grateful to all our incredible supporters for making it possible to transform entire communities through the gift of sight. Together we’ve helped thousands, but there are thousands more who need access to eye care. Make a donation to give the gift of sight today.

The post Three generations of support appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Bernard is a great example of the transformation our donors have made at Kitale District Hospital.

Bernard, from Kenya’s Trans Nzoia County, spent three years unable to see, dependent on others for everything. Now, after receiving sight-restoring surgery, he’s one of the hospital’s most dedicated community health volunteers! He’s committed to helping others receive the same gift of sight that changed his life.

Before Operation Eyesight started working in Trans Nzoia County, the hospital’s eye unit was just one small room with a staff of two. Twice a year, a surgeon would travel 74 kilometres from another hospital for patients in need of more specialized treatment. Since services were limited, many people were left to struggle with visual impairment.

In September 2010, an upgraded eye unit was opened at the hospital, thanks to generous donors like YOU. See the dramatic changes below!

Kitale District Hospital eye services in 2010:

– One room
– One ophthalmic clinical officer and one ophthalmic nurse
– 20 patients a day
– 40 cataract surgeries per year
– No outreach services

Kitale District Hospital eye services in 2018:

– Consultation rooms, refraction room, operating theatre, 18-bed recovery        ward, and administration and research facilities
– One ophthalmologist, four cataract surgeons and eight ophthalmic nurses
– 100 patients a day
– 600 cataract surgeries a year
– Three satellite clinics in Cherangany, Endebess and Matunda                          sub-counties, staffed by ophthalmic nurses trained by Operation Eyesight

Additionally, hospital staff and other Operation Eyesight partners have screened all 168,730 primary school children in Trans Nzoia County for eye problems.

The people of the county now have quality eye health care that’s available to everyone. Thank you for making this possible!

There are thousands more people who need your help. Donate now to transform entire communities through the gift of sight!

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