They walk the world as ophthalmologists, technicians, nurses, outreach workers, and more.
In reality, they’re heroes.
It takes a village to end avoidable blindness. Surgeons, health administrators, and so many others are crucial links in a patient’s journey to clear sight. We couldn’t do it without them.
But who are these remarkable folks? We’ve found that the best eye care professionals are right next door – members of the local community who understand what’s needed to provide culturally adept care. With your support, we invest in their world-class training at every single level – from health volunteers to highly skilled ophthalmologists. This ensures that local communities will always have access to eye care, even long after Seva’s direct involvement.
We call them the heroes next door. Meet a few of them and see why.
MALAWI
- Rate of blindness is 2X that of the United States
- Less than 1 ophthalmologist per million people
IMPACT (FY 2021-2022)
2,753
Children screened
400
Children received surgery
141
Children received glasses
15
Administrators trained
272
Community Health Promoters trained
When a person’s sight is on the line, time is of the essence. But in Grace Khondeza’s community, there was no access to eye care at all. She stepped up and with Seva’s support learned how to screen children with vision problems.
“This will help children because I will be able to tell them whether they have a problem with their eyes or not and send them to the hospital early,” she shared.
Now, children in her community are able to receive the care they need sooner. The training helped Grace improve her work by teaching her new skills.
PERU
- Rate of blindness is over 3X that of the United States
IMPACT (FY 2021-2022)
16,676
People received services
1,759
Cataract surgeries performed
2
New Vision Centers funded through Seva
400,000
People who now have access to care
Photo by Joe Raffanti.
Peru is home to a rapidly aging population, and the demand for high-quality eye care is substantial.
With Seva’s support, our partner Divino Niño Jesús (DNJ) set up a special unit dedicated to training nursing technicians with a specialization in comprehensive ophthalmology. They continue to grow and refine the current curriculum to best meet the eye care needs in Peru.
“We needed to solve our problem – to find highly trained ophthalmic personnel in all areas of the hospital. The Peruvian market was not providing it, so we took on the task of doing it ourselves. To date we have graduated 22 ophthalmic assistants with comprehensive knowledge that meets our personnel needs and that of other ophthalmic institutions.”
– Eugenia Barros, Coordinator of the Medical area of DNJ Lima
INDIA
- Rate of blindness is over 3X that of the United States
IMPACT (FY 2021-2022)
2,136,754
People received services
530,529
Cataract surgeries performed
61,724
Children screened
1,869
Children received surgery
15,542
Children received glasses
15
New Vision Centers funded through Seva
Increasing the presence of underrepresented populations in eye care, including women and girls, has always been a priority of Seva’s.
Uma Ganga decided to make a career in the medical field, enrolling herself at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Paramedical Institute and attending screening camps in surrounding rural areas of her community.
With your support, she’s learned how to perform vision assessments, auto refraction techniques, IOL power calculation, retinoscopy, and more. She currently works at the Seva-supported branch of LNJP Eye Hospital at Kajha, Gaya serving her community by giving them the opportunity to lead brighter, better lives.
Seva’s goal is to develop self-sustaining eye care programs run by local people who have both the clinical knowledge to provide high quality eye care and the skills to train others. Through this method, we ensure communities can receive eye care now – and far into the future. This is all made possible by you – and the heroes next door! Learn more about all of our strategic training initiatives here.
