Category: Seva Foundation

Eye Care in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp

Posted on by Kate Moynihan
Photo: A Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar District.
Photo: A Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar District.

Today, as you and your family reflect on the changes our world is going through, know that your compassion has reached into one of the most forgotten places on Earth. 

Over the last decade, nearly one million Rohingya people have fled their homeland of Myanmar to escape what the UN refers to as the military’s ethnic cleansing. In late 2017, one of the worst human rights violations of the decade sent hundreds of thousands of women and girls, boys, and men into neighboring Bangladesh. Crammed into makeshift shelters in Cox’s Bazar district, the Rohingya refugees are one of the most densely packed populations on earth living in what is now the largest refugee camp in the world.

Upon reaching Bangladesh, the sheer number of Rohingya overwhelmed the local resources, resulting in a lack of access to clean water, sanitation, nutrition, shelter, and health care, including eye care. For the Rohingya, a lifetime without proper access to eyecare means  a high rate of preventable blindness and vision loss. According to our study, ten thousand refugees living in the area need cataract surgery today. Every year three thousand more will. On top of this, seventy-five thousand refugees need glasses.

Seva is committed to providing access to eye care in this region. 

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Do you know who trains the trainers?

Posted on by Seva Foundation
Celebrating Excellence in Eye Care Training for 12 years in July, 2019.
Celebrating Excellence in Eye Care Training for 12 years in July, 2019.

There are millions of people in the world in need of eye care services and not enough trained eye care professionals to provide care. Your generous support enables us to provide critical training for ophthalmic support staff. These individuals are professionally trained vision care workers who assist ophthalmologists and optometrists with routine clinical or non-clinical activities. With their assistance, ophthalmologists can focus on more advanced and complex cases. Together, they can provide care to more people, more efficiently.

But who trains the trainers? How do we make sure the teachers are giving their students the best information across the board? Eyexcel is how.

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300,000 Residents Get Access to Critical Vision Care

Posted on by Seva Foundation
Photo: Patients at the new vision center.

Even in the middle of a global pandemic, millions of people around the world need access to basic eye care services. At Seva, we are grateful for your support and the hard work, dedication, and determination of our wonderful global partners who go the extra mile to ensure that underserved communities have the support they need – especially today, during this challenging time.

On June 21, 2020, our partner in Bangladesh – Ispahani Islamia Eye Institute and Hospital (IIEIH) ‘e-inaugurated’ a new eye clinic in Lalmohan supported by Seva. Lalmohan, located in the southern district of Barisal, had very few vision care resources to serve its almost 300,000 residents. As most of the population there earns a low income, the closest eye hospital, which is located 63 miles (102 Kms) away, becomes very difficult and costly to visit.

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