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!

The post You are empowering women to transform their own communities! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Rathnamma and Venkitaraman have been each other’s support ever since they migrated to Bangalore, India to work as construction labourers. Despite 40 years of hard work, the couple was only able to accumulate a small amount of savings. And that savings was quickly used after Venkitaram’s sight faded, until he eventually went blind. Without his additional income, the couple struggled every day. Rathnamma had no choice but to become the sole breadwinner for them both.

If that wasn’t already challenging enough, Rathnamma’s vision also started to fade. She feared a dark and difficult future if she lost her sight… If she went blind too, how would she and Venkitaram survive?

As her vision faded more and more, Rathnamma was forced to cut back at work, putting extra financial strain on her household.

Rathnamma knew she needed help. She wanted to go to one of the nearby hospitals to seek treatment, but she kept quiet for two years, worried she wouldn’t be able to afford the cost.  

Rathnamma was on the verge of losing her sight, and her hope for the future was running out.

But one day everything changed! Operation Eyesight-trained community health workers visited the family during a community outreach program. When they reached the couple’s home, they told Rathnamma they were there to screen the family for eye health issues. They immediately recognized that Rathnamma ‘s sight was fading, and they referred her to a vision centre where she was diagnosed with cataracts. From there, she was referred to our partner hospital for cataract surgeries – free of charge!

Soon after, Rathnamma underwent sight-restoring eye surgery. Today she is able to see clearly. Now she’s back at work and earning more to support her little family!

And that’s not all. Although Vankitaraman had incurable blindness, the community health workers taught him mobility skills to get around. They trained him to walk around with a long cane to navigate his surroundings. As a result, Venkitaraman no longer needs to sit idle at home. Today he takes care of the household chores while Rathnamma works outside.

And the health workers didn’t stop there. Knowing the couple was struggling financially, they helped them apply for disability pensions from the government. Now they have an additional income each month that takes the edge off their financial stress!

The couple remembers the community health workers fondly. Thanks to all the help they received, Venkitaraman and Rathnamma were able to escape a terrible fate, and they have hope for a brighter future. 

And it’s all because to people like you! Through the support of donors like you, we are able to bring sustainable changes to the lives of so many across South Asia and Africa. Thanks to you, thousands of families have access to the quality eye care services they need! There are still so many who need your help. Please make a donation and give the gift of hope to more families today.

The post Together from Darkness to Light appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

“I couldn’t work or even tell people apart unless I recognized their voices, and my wife Pauline had to lead me around our home,” says James, a 70-year-old farmer from Kenya.

James suffered from bilateral cataracts and desperately needed surgery. To get treatment, he’d need to save enough money to cover a trip to Nairobi, two hours away. But how could he save money if he couldn’t see to work?

Then everything changed with the opening of our new unit at nearby Kerugoya County Referral Hospital.

James learned that he could receive cataract surgery there free of charge.

“I was not at any point afraid of surgery,” he says. “In fact, I was among  the first patients at the eye unit.”

Thanks to the generosity of people like you, James received surgery on one eye. He can see again!

Today, James is working on his farm and eagerly awaiting his second surgery. In his spare time, he enjoys taking a moment to appreciate the world around him.

“We are always in too much of a hurry to notice our surroundings,” he says. “One thing being blind for three years taught me is to always take time to appreciate the beauty around me.”

Thank you for helping people like James see the world around them again!

Generosity from people like you has already helped thousands in need, but there are still thousands more people like James who need your help. Please donate to give the precious gift of sight today, so that people like James can see tomorrow.

Together, we CAN eliminate avoidable blindness – For All The World To See!

The post Taking Time to Appreciate the View appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Operation Eyesight’s hospital partner for Majuli is Chandraprabha Eye Hospital, located in Jorhat, Assam. Established in 2005, the hospital was our first Non-Financial Technical Partnership. It’s now one of the most reputable hospitals in the region, houses two prestigious training schools and performs 4,200 surgeries annually.

Together, Operation Eyesight and Chandraprabha set out to eliminate avoidable blindness on Majuli Island. When our locally-hired community health workers began a comprehensive survey, they found that gender discrimination, vitamin A deficiency, poor sanitation, malnutrition and other issues all compounded the lack of eye health care.

Based on the survey, the project team and hospital management developed plans to tackle cataracts, blindness and other eye problems. To date, almost 3,800 people from the island have undergone surgery to restore their sight, over 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses have been dispensed and 83,500 people have attended health education workshops. Immunization of children under five and coverage of antenatal and postnatal care have all reached 85 percent.

In 2015, we were able to declare a total of 21 avoidable blindness-free villages on Majuli! Although there is much more to do, none of this work would be possible without our amazing donors. Thanks to donor support, people in places like Majuli Island no longer have to live in darkness; they have been given the gift of sight!

The post Biannual checkup: Majuli Island appeared first on Operation Eyesight.