Photo: Eye screening at Sree Saat Mul Secondary School – Nepal
Whitney Houston sang it loud & clear: “Children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way!”
Sometimes, the leaders of tomorrow need support to succeed. For kids who struggle to see, life can be a challenge. They miss school, are ostracized by peers when their eyes appear different, & often face issues with self-esteem.
Our school screening programs are designed to address this.We bring eye care to students, teachers, and parents exactly where they are – in the classroom!
The beginning of any year allows us to reflect on the previous year and be reinspired by the hopes we have for the year ahead. It’s also time for us to aim for a brighter tomorrow, setting new goals for the future. Here at Seva, the team and our partners engage in a highly inclusive and reflective process. With a set of carefully selected questions we uncover the most successful patterns from the work of the past that allow us to plan for a great year.
We do this in two distinct parts. First we review, learn from, and celebrate the year we are leaving behind. In the second part, our questions and challenges are all about the future. Together with our clients, partners, staff, and board members we are dreaming, planning, and preparing to help the most number of people gain access to comprehensive eye care.
Since the pandemic began I’ve looked to each of you as proof of how strong the Seva fabric can be. Together our resilience, ingenuity, and creativity shone through for the people who need us the most. In fact, millions of people – 2.8 to be more precise – relied on the Seva Foundation’s network of world-class partners to provide services through the pandemic. You helped to navigate this new world, deliver critical eye care, and spread good where it does the most.
Another thing happened: Former NY Times journalist Nicholas Kristof named Seva the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Holiday Impact Prize. This was a big deal for our organization, the partners we work alongside and the difference this mission makes in the world. It is affirmation from one of the most renowned and celebrated journalists of our time, that Seva is seen for who we are: an organization that believes how we work in this world is as important as what we do, and the sustainable impact we have. For me personally, this award solidifies the thread that connects us from the origins of Seva in the 70’s to the staff and board of today – we are forever bound by a commitment to world class science paired with human compassion.
As we embark on the next normal, know that we – here at the Seva Foundation – are renewed and ready for the year ahead. I invite you to let the mission and work of Seva be one of the guiding points on your own compass that you follow this coming year.
Renowned philanthropist Peter Singer has won the Berggruen Prize, and he’s giving away $100,000 from the prize money to three of The Life You Can Save’s recommended charities based on a public vote – Seva won $30,000!
Each dollar goes directly to provide critical eye care, medicine, and treatment to underserved communities. That means thousands can go back to school, work or serve their communities! It’s never been so simple to transform lives!
Two boys in Tibet (China) with prayer flags – by Jon Kaplan. This photo is available as a gift card through Gifts of Sight.
You know how the holidays are filled with joyous music, spreading cheer far and wide? Well, we have a treat for you today! Our youth outreach team in Nepal created a jingle about the importance of eye care. It may not be a familial holiday tune, but it has the same spirit and energy this time of year brings to all of us.
Listen to the full clip and follow along with the translations below:
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times journalist and author Nicholas Kristof names Seva Foundation the 2021 Holiday Impact Grand Prize Winner!
Every year, Kristof selects only five non-profit organizations, with one grand prize, for their life-changing work. Kristof says of Seva:
“It feels miraculous to watch people regain their sight, but it’s a miracle that we can all make happen. Seva Foundation, the Grand Prize Winner of this year’s Holiday Impact Prize, is transforming people’s lives for as little as $50 per cataract surgery. Seva works in more than 20 countries abroad and in Native American communities in the United States, and nothing is more joyous than seeing the impact of its work on people who had thought they would never see again.”
We know eye health affects nearly everyone at some point in our lives. Worldwide, there are currently 1.1 billion people living with vision impairment, and hundreds of millions more have ongoing eye care needs.
Improved eye health is essential to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG for short). That means eye health is critical to achieving goals related to poverty, hunger, education, gender equality, and decent work, in addition to overall health and wellbeing. A Lancet Commission Report released earlier this year noted that the economic impact of vision impairment is massive, with a current estimated productivity loss of $411 billion per year globally.
Native Americans disproportionately suffer from higher rates of preventable and treatable eye conditions. Poverty, geographic isolation, and finding culturally appropriate providers often prevent Indigenous communities from accessing the treatment they need.
Seva’s American Indian Sight Initiative exists to meet the eye care needs of the five million Indigenous people throughout the United States. We structure collaborative, locally-based partnerships with hospitals and clinics in and near Indigenous land to enable Native communities to access health and wellness services year-round.
We’re always on the hunt for the greatest eye care inventions. Last year, Seva announced a Call for Ideas to identify innovative technology-based solutions to improve eye care delivery. We wanted to give you the opportunity to check in on The University of Washington (UW) at Bothell that has been working on the development of an EYE Toolbox, a cloud-based package of software. It provides secure and effective training, helps coordinate electronic medical records, facilitates collaboration between eye clinics, and allows for remote treatment interventions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a strain on communities all around the world. Particularly in the Global South, many hospitals and patients have found their resources stretched thin while needs continue to rise. But as we like to say at Seva, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going!” Our donors and partners stepped up to the plate to make sure that patients could still receive the vision care that they need, safely, even in these uncertain times.
Our eyes truly are miraculous organs. They help us see the world around us, with all its beauty and danger. Indeed, life becomes quite a bit more difficult for us when we lose our eyesight. That’s why it’s important for us to take care of our eyes!
This year, World Sight Day’s theme was “Love Your Eyes.” The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness is called on everyone to pledge to get an eye exam in honor of World Sight Day, which was October 14, 2021. Show love to your eyes by getting your vision tested!
Besides getting your eyes checked, here are a few more things you can do to protect your vision, courtesy of the National Institute of Health (NIH):
