eleventh.transmission
August 7
-Technology
-Ghana pt. 3
-Wakefield
Brewseter
-Monique
Dietvorst
REPORT
Eradicating Blindness: Canadian Organisation Making it Happen
by Karina Ramdath
As Canadians, many of us live with the luxury of being able to access health care. If we have an eye infection we
go to the doctor and easily obtain prescriptions, or we are referred to a specialist. Certainly, we meet people who
have no sight or who have low vision, but what do we think about when we meet them? We see them as capable
individuals, and of course they are, but perhaps we sympathise that they don’t share the same passion for our
favourite movie or we wonder about how they cook for themselves or how tedious it may be to find good books on
tape. We seldom think that blindness is a burden to families or that blindness isn’t just a disability. In Canada it
is a disability, but as Patrick Hammond of Operation Eyesight Universal states, “In the developing world,
blindness is a death sentence. If you can’t work, you can’t eat.”
Consider that in places like India and Ghana if you are blind you cannot work. Remember that if you are older or
elderly you will need someone to look after you, which means that one of your children or grandchildren will no
longer attend school, or an employed member of your family will no longer go to work. Not only has your family
lost what little money you brought in, but they will also be short two incomes, or your future generation will not
have that better future you had imagined because they will not have any more schooling. Understand that you live
in poverty and that because you are blind and have no access to medical care your life span has dropped to just
a few more years.
And how did you become blind? Visualise walking several kilometres to get a few litres of water for your family,
precious water essential to drinking and cooking, and ask yourself if you could waste it on washing your face.
Imagine not having access to a doctor or, if you do have access, walking days to get to a clinic and then not being
able to get the medication to treat an eye infection. Think about not having money to feed yourself or your family,
much less having to spend whatever little money you may have to see a doctor.
Quite simply, seventy-five percent of blindness is avoidable. People can prevent it with nutrition and sanitation
and treat it with medication, but in developing nations it’s not simple; there’s an appalling lack of access to
medical care, which is the reason people go blind.
Operation Eyesight Universal is the original Canadian response to preventing and treating avoidable blindness.
The non-profit organisation began in 1963 because a Canadian doctor working in India inspired a group of
Calgarians by asking for help. Originally, eyesight restoration focused largely on the removal of cataracts. Now
prevention and treatment not only means cataract surgery, but also building wells and teaching hygienic face-
washing to prevent trachoma as well as providing medication to treat it, early detection of diabetic retinopathy,
and providing vitamin A injections to children to prevent blindness.
Reconciling eye care with community development is behind Operation Eyesight’s partnership with local leaders
in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, and Rwanda. Operation Eyesight has partnered with the
LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in India because they share the philosophy “the best for the poorest,” and
Operation Eyesight strongly believes in investing in local capacity and in creating sustainable eye centres in
areas threatened by blindness. Operation Eyesight’s approach is based on the LVPEI model of eye care. The
LVPEI is a centre of excellence with a qualified medical and administrative staff, research centre, eye bank, and it
is a treatment and rehabilitation facility. It has satellite hospitals and clinics that enable people in remote areas
to access eye care. The reason that it is a model of sustainability is because the centre of excellence and its
satellites provide high-quality, comprehensive eye care to both paying patients and non-paying patients. In fact,
the patients who pay subsidise patients who are unable to pay.
Operation Eyesight Universal is committed to working themselves out of a job. They are members of Vision
2020: The Right to Sight, which is the World Health Organisation’s and the International Agency for the
Prevention of Blindness’s initiative to eliminate preventable blindness by the year 2020. Operation Eyesight is
aware that Canadian donors are concerned by poverty in the developing world so the organisation makes an
impact by recognising the talent and initiative of local leaders with grassroots solutions rather than enforcing
Canadian-made solutions; as such Operation Eyesight supports local leaders whom they identify as
Champions of Eyesight. These champions are motivated, educated, and compassionate people who are
experts in eye care and committed to improving the health of vulnerable populations. They advise Operation
Eyesight about the unique conditions of their country, and the local leaders apply the LVPEI model in ways that
work.
According to Mr. Hammond, “families change when blindness is cured.” The organisation’s goal is to cure
blindness by building a lot of hospitals and by developing communities in which comprehensive, high-quality,
sustainable eye care is available, where there is easy access to water, and where nutrition is a daily part of life.
Operation Eyesight invests donors’ contributions in sustainable eye care facilities and community development
programs over a three-year period. Canadians’ financial support sets up equipment, training, and building, and
after the three-year period the organisation withdraws. Proven by increased family income, a decline in childhood
nutrient deficiency, and the continued accessibility of eye care supported by paying patients who subsidise the
non-paying, the results of the intervention are long term.
For more information about Operation Eyesight Universal and their projects, please visit their website at
www.operationeyesight.ca.
Biography
Karina Ramdath graduated from the University of Calgary with degrees in Political Science and English. She
loves history, culture, people, and nature, and has succumbed to these interests by travelling, working in
community development, and volunteering. She can be reached at cougarkdr@yahoo.com.
Calgary arts, culture, media, activism e-zine.
we must remain "unadapted"