Rotary Clubs: Longstanding champions of sight

In the mountainous Kathmandu Valley of northern Nepal, one in five people lives with vision loss or blindness, according to the Country Data from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. For many families in these isolated areas, the journey to access even basic eye care is long, difficult and often impossible.

But through an inspiring partnership between Rotary Clubs and Operation Eyesight, eye health services are now reaching communities once left behind – thanks to innovation, compassion and more than 60 years of partnership. 

Vision on Wheels: A lifeline to rural communities

Powered by the Rotary Club of Simcoe, Vision on Wheels is a mobile eye unit that delivers vital health services directly to the doorsteps of rural families in Nepal. From vision screening and prescription eyeglasses to life-changing cataract surgeries and health education, the Mobile Vision Centre eliminates the barriers of geography and cost – restoring not only sight, but also dignity, hope and opportunity.

“Rotary International and local Rotary Clubs have long played a critical role in advancing global health initiatives, particularly eye health, and we are incredibly grateful for their longstanding support,” says Kashinath Bhoosnurmath, our President & CEO. “Together, we are now addressing the new and emerging causes of blindness and vision loss, renewing hope for families and entire communities.”

A legacy rooted in Rotary values

The connection between Rotary and Operation Eyesight runs deep. In fact, Operation Eyesight’s founder Art Jenkyns, seen in this archival photo (far left), was himself a Rotary member. Since the 1970s, Rotary Club Members have been instrumental in shaping the organization’s mission – contributing more than $1.4 M USD through more than 3,100 individual gifts, including $748,565 since 2020 alone.

Through these donations, Rotary members have supported Operation Eyesight in:

• Clean water and hygiene education projects
• Constructing and equipping vision centres in communities
• Funding mobile eye care units
• Training healthcare workers
• Connecting patients with sight-restoring surgeries
• Supporting health education and public outreach
• Clean water and hygiene education projects

Their impact spans continents – from the bustling cities of India to remote regions of Kenya, Zambia and Ethiopia. “I believe Rotary’s confidence in Operation Eyesight is rooted in our shared commitment to fighting disease, providing clean water and sanitation, supporting education and promoting gender equality, particularly for mothers and children,” Kashinath adds. “The collaboration between our organizations showcases how Rotary’s local presence and Operation Eyesight’s global reach can have a lasting impact on underserved communities.”

A Centennial vision becomes reality

In 2005, to mark Rotary International’s 100^th anniversary, the Rotary Club of Calgary Heritage Park, jointly with Rotary Zones 22, 5 and 6A, partnered with Operation Eyesight in an ambitious goal: to provide 100,000 free cataract surgeries across India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, through a “Partners in Vision” campaign.

A Rotary Club of Calgary Heritage Park Newsletter states that two major approvals were provided in December 2004, which covered 48,600 surgeries for a total cost of $1,065,000 USD. Operation Eyesight provided 50 per cent ($533,000 equivalent in USD) of the total funding matching every dollar raised by Rotary Clubs and Districts and other Rotary contributions. In June 2005, three other contributions were approved to fund an additional 16,400 surgeries for a total cost of $367,000 USD. To this amount, Operation Eyesight added 50 per cent (the equivalent of $184,000 USD) of the funding. Operation Eyesight also matched each Rotary dollar with professional expertise and local partnerships.

More than a surgical campaign, the initiative strengthened health systems by requiring participating hospitals to undergo training at the world-renowned L V Prasad Eye Institute – ensuring quality care and sustainability for years to come.

From boardrooms to boreholes

Rotary’s commitment goes beyond eye surgeries. Recognizing the link between clean water and eye health, especially in preventing trachoma – a devastating bacterial infection that causes irreversible blindness if left untreated – Rotary members have supported water and sanitation projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia that protect and uplift communities.

In 2008, the Ridgewood Rotary Club of New Jersey funded a pump house and handwashing station at Kishermoruak Primary School in Kenya, where a borehole had been drilled by Operation Eyesight. This project now provides clean water to more than 1,000 people, transforming health and education outcomes for the entire community.

“Access to clean water not only prevents the spread of trachoma and other diseases, but also means young girls are able to attend school, because they no longer have to haul water long distances for their families,” explains Caroline Nginda Ikumu, Operation Eyesight’s Country Director for Kenya and Ethiopia.

“Through the generosity and vision of donors and partners, together we are building healthier communities.”

Looking ahead: a shared vision for the future

Our shared vision for a healthier, more equitable world continues to inspire many Rotary members to join Operation Eyesight’s global community. Rotary Clubs have the opportunity to partner on a variety of projects that bring eye health solutions to communities that need them most:

• Community-Based Eye Health – Including establishing vision centres, training community health workers and ensuring communities have sustainable, local access to care, now and into the future. Together, we can declare entire villages as Avoidable Blindness-Free.
• Village and School Outreach – Delivers screenings and services through mobile units and school programs, reaching remote areas and children with eye health screening, prescription eyeglasses, surgical referrals and transportation to hospital.
• Hospital Partnerships and Surgeries – Together we can enhance hospital infrastructure, equipment and staff training, as well as funding for sight-restoring surgeries like cataracts.
• Specialized Eye Health Initiatives – Includes programs for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). With support from clubs like Simcoe, Calgary at Stampede Park and Norfolk Sunrise, we have led a groundbreaking ROP screening and treatment initiative in Moradabad, India that is now expanding to five more cities, preventing irreversible blindness in premature infants. Rotary’s Global Grant funding is also enhancing its reach by sponsoring tele-ophthalmology and specialist training.

WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) and Health System Strengthening – Integrates eye care with water, sanitation and hygiene, and works with governments to embed services into public health systems, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa.

A tribute to Rotary champions

Together with donors and dedicated partners, Operation Eyesight works with local governments and hospitals to create local eye health solutions that address the root causes of vision loss, including lack of access to fresh water, gender inequality, and inadequate education and access to health services. By leveraging the unique strengths of communities, we help ensure the impact of donors is felt long after a project is finished. 

Throughout the years, Rotary Clubs like Calgary West, Grimsby, North Scarborough and Norfolk Sunrise have consistently stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Operation Eyesight. Together, our work has transformed lives in communities across South Asia and Africa.

Partner hospitals in Operation Eyesight’s countries of work play a key role in the sustainability of services after projects end. In India, facilities established and supported by Indian Rotary Clubs remain key partners in our work to end avoidable vision loss on the subcontinent. The Mela Mal Sood Rotary Eye Hospital in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, pictured here at its inauguration in 1985, is one of more than two-dozen Rotary eye hospitals we work alongside in partnership and collaboration.

Through Rotary investments, eye health care is becoming a standard part of health systems in not only India but our other countries of work as well.

In addition to providing state-of-the-art affordable ophthalmic services, these facilities offer sight -restoring surgery, treatment and specialized care. Our Rotary partner hospitals in India often function as regional hubs for community outreach, supporting large-scale eye screenings and surgical camps in rural and semi-urban areas. It’s these local and international partnerships that make our work possible.

“Rotary’s confidence in Operation Eyesight is rooted in our shared commitment to fighting disease, providing clean water and education, supporting education and promoting gender equality,” says Bhoosnurmath. “Together, we are restoring sight, dignity and hope.”

One vision, countless lives transformed

The partnership between Rotary and Operation Eyesight continues to evolve. Through initiatives like the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)-Rotary International Service Partnership, Rotary Clubs are now helping integrate eye care into broader health systems, train local health workers and promote sustainable change.

As Operation Eyesight continues its mission to prevent blindness and restore sight for good, Rotary Clubs remain vital to making this a reality. The tireless energy, strategic leadership and generous spirit of Rotary Club members continue to serve as a beacon of what’s possible when we unite for a greater purpose.

Thank you, Rotary, for helping us see a brighter future – one person, one community and one gift at a time – For All The World To See! Operation Eyesight is excited to participate in the Rotary International Convention in Calgary in June 2025. Be sure to stop by our booth (#355) in the House of Friendship to learn more about our work with Rotary Clubs around the world. You can also visit operationeyesight.com/Rotary2025 for more information

The post Gratitude for 60+ years of Rotary support appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

World Prematurity Day: Dr. Ashi Khurana, Vice-Chairman, C.L. Gupta Eye Institute on preventing blindness in premature babies

An eye condition that is all but invisible to parents, pediatricians and the community can silently rob premature and low-weight infants of their sight. The condition must be treated early or the infant can go blind, not as a baby, but years later as a child. The condition is called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), and in 2016, it became all too visible to eye doctors at C. L. Gupta Eye Institute.

Dr. Khurana remembers a doctor coming to her and being “very concerned as they found that a lot of children were coming in and had gone blind due to ROP.” It was a major problem that no other organization was addressing. ROP can be treated but it requires screening, diagnosis and urgent treatment that can include injections and laser eye surgery.

However, there was no widespread public health initiative to address ROP. Dr. Khurana and her team saw the shadow that blindness from ROP caused on children, their families, the health care system and society. Though a small number of babies develop ROP and lose their sight, “there is a huge impact on the life of that child and their family because someone, often the mother, becomes the caregiver.” There is a direct impact on the mental, physical and financial resources in a family, she says. Later treatment is also often complex, intensive and has poor outcomes. “It is very frustrating as a doctor,” says Dr. Khurana, “when there is not much you can do for a condition that could have been prevented.”

Conditions impacting premature infants, such as ROP, are on the rise

Premature births are a global issue. The World Health Organization data from 2020 estimates that 13.4 million babies, or one in 10, were born premature.

India has the highest prevalence of premature births in the world. Data from the Lancet found that three million premature babies were born in India in 2020.

The emergence of local NICUs has greatly increased the survival rate of premature infants. This has led to a shift from survival to quality of life by addressing the complications of prematurity. “ROP is a modern disease as more babies survive due to high quality NICUs,” Dr. Khurana says.

Conditions of Premature Infants on the Rise

To address the growing need and fill the gap in service, Dr. Khurana and her team launched an ROP screening program in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Initially it was a pilot and then it expanded to include a partnership with Operation Eyesight Universal and was called the Retinopathy of Prematurity Eradication Project.  

On a mission to raise awareness and start screening for ROP

At that time, Dr. Khurana remembers that C. L. Gupta Eye Institute was not getting a lot of referrals from pediatricians to screen the eyes of premature infants for ROP. She knew that they needed to start an awareness campaign to educate doctors and pediatricians about ROP and the need to screen. “It should just happen, like a vaccine,” Dr. Khurana says.

The team started knocking on doors and going into NICUs to talk to not only doctors but also NICU managers and nurses, who are often the ones responsible for requesting ROP screenings.

Screening requires specialists and equipment often found in an eye hospital. As premature infants cannot travel and spend their first few weeks in emerging NICUs, the screening needs to take place there. However, many of the infants are fighting for their lives. “They have a lot of complications and there is a lot of priorities for doctors and stress for families,” Dr. Khurana says. “And then with all that, this issue of blindness comes up.”

There are also a limited number of eye doctors, and it can be challenging for them to travel to multiple NICUs to screen premature infants “who may or may not have an eye problem.”

An ambitious screening goal

The initial goal was to screen 500 children “which was huge,” Dr, Khurana says. To achieve this they sent optometrists to screen premature infants for ROP regularly at 40 local NICUs. Infants with ROP were referred to C. L. Gupta Eye Institute for urgent treatment.

In the first phase, the team screened 464 premature infants and saved 50 children from blindness. “It has been very satisfying for our doctors,” Dr. Khurana says.

In addition to raising awareness among medical staff, Dr. Khurana’s team started to educate the community as well. Not all parents are able to understand why screening and treatment are needed. There can be literacy and poverty issues that need to be addressed and at times, parents may deny treatment. Gender can be a factor as can birth order, if there are many children in the family.

People who can pay do, those who can pay part of the cost contribute what they can and those who cannot pay are supported by Operation Eyesight Universal. In this way, “everyone receives care and treatment.”

The second phase of the project launched on July 16, 2024, expanding beyond Moradabad to Sambhal, Bijnor, Amroha, Rampur and Baduan. Reaching these semi-urban areas was possible due to a mobile van with the required equipment, made possible through the Rotary Foundation, for onsite screening and treatment in rural and underserved areas, a tele-ophthalmology platform that allows experts to provide remote consultations, diagnoses, and treatment recommendations, an expanded network of neo-natal intensive care units in the five new regions and continued medical education to raise awareness of ROP, capacity and skills of NICU staff in the additional districts.

In December 2024, the Retinopathy of Prematurity Eradication Project ends. Services will be maintained with C. L. Gupta Eye Institute, a non-profit, covering costs for those who cannot pay, and working with NICUs.

ROP is a modern disease that requires resources

ROP is being studied and the ROP Society of India is looking at the impact of the condition on the country. As more NICUs emerge and more premature infants survive, ROP is appearing more frequently.   

Now, Dr. Khurana and her team are working to raise awareness of ROP in the community, among parents and with medical professionals. What is needed is more resources, public health support and training for doctors.  

For now, her team is small but dedicated. “It is satisfying for us to make a difference in the lives of these children and families,” she says.  

For the premature infants and their families in and around Moradabad, there is hope of a bright future. 

See how this this project works in the video Born Too Soon: Retinopathy of Prematurity Project, Moradabad, India.

Read about how this project transformed the life of Baby Aarsh and his family.

The post Preventing blindness in premature babies with Dr. Ashi Khurana appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Preeti also has big dreams for her family, who live together in a remote village in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

“I am passionate about my studies and dream of elevating my family out of poverty,” she says.

Preeti is also responsible for hauling drinking water from a nearby pond. One day while fetching water, she slipped and fell in a thorny bush, injuring her eye. Within a few days, her eye became red and swollen. Despite receiving eye drops from a local pharmacy, a month later her vision in her wounded eye had decreased dramatically, making even routine chores difficult. At school, Preeti struggled to participate in class and play with other kids.

A door-to-door eye health screening in her area eventually brought two community health volunteers to the family’s doorstep. Upon examination, the volunteers told Preeti and her father that she might have a cataract. On the volunteers’ advice, Preeti’s father took her to our nearby partner hospital, the Rotary Eye and ENT Hospital in Udhampur, where doctors diagnosed her with a traumatic cataract.

“I was worried about the cost of the treatment and was almost in tears,” her father says. “But I was relieved when the hospital told me that Preeti would undergo free surgery.”

Shortly after her operation, Preeti regained her vision.

“Operation Eyesight’s work began in India 60 years ago. In that time, we have built in-roads in communities and brought access to eye health care,” explains Tapobrat Bhuyan, our local program manager. “Vision loss of one family member can be devastating for the whole family.”

For Preeti, her restored sight has been life changing for her entire family.

“Our family has found a new life,” explains Preeti’s father. “The villagers have told her she is a very cheerful child and very active.”

Preeti’s future is now full of hope, made possible through the generosity of our donors. Thank you!

By making a donation today, you can help transform the life of a child like Preeti.

The post Help for the whole family appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Among these dedicated people are volunteers who perform all kinds of jobs. In this blog post, I’d like to focus on our Board volunteers who govern all the strategic decisions that have led to our success.

Raju Paul is the chair of our Canadian board, and his story is an interesting one. I asked Raju to share some of that story with us:

“I had been aware of Operation Eyesight’s work in India since the ‘70s through friends in the medical field who had been to India to set up eye camps and perform cataract surgeries. I used to admire them for their work in the country where I came from over 40 years ago. I used to think: ‘What a noble cause these doctors have undertaken.’ They used to talk about the volume of surgeries they have performed on each trip.

“In the winter of 1988 I started volunteering and became hooked on volunteerism and the opportunity to give back to communities, local and international. I joined Rotary in 1989 with that in mind. In the ‘90s, I was asked to volunteer on the program committee of Operation Eyesight and served on that committee for two or three years.

“In 2003, I became the president of the Canadian Rotary Collaboration for International Development, which received funding for international humanitarian Rotary projects in developing countries from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Rotary International Directors from Canada and India at that time initiated a project twinning the two countries to celebrate Rotary’s centennial in 2005. I was given the responsibility to coordinate this initiative from the Canadian side.

“Having completed several eye-related projects in India in cooperation with Rotary clubs during my tenure as District World Community Chair, I was inspired to carry out a major eye project of providing 100,000 eyesight restorations as the centennial initiative. I approached Operation Eyesight to partner with Rotary on this. CEO Pat Ferguson was receptive, and we designed the project to be sustainable using the core values of Operation Eyesight. The project was completed in 2010 and has provided 72,000 eyesight restorations in the Indian sub-continent.

“In 2006, I joined the board of Operation Eyesight, a role I continue to enjoy. As the chair of the Board, my goals include connecting with the South Asian community in North America to create awareness of Operation Eyesight’s work in India and Africa, and partnering with Rotary International on our initiatives.”

The post Volunteer energy is essential: a highlight on Raju’s story appeared first on Operation Eyesight.