Ramesh is a 60-year old daily wage farmer living in Naujheel, a town in the north of India. He earns a total of $6 to $7 per day with which he supports his three sons (all of whom are out-of-work) as well as their children. But a little over a year ago, his vision began to get blurry. Working in the fields became much more difficult, and before long he needed help to perform even basic household tasks. Ramesh didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have money to see a doctor and he needed his sight to make any money.
Continue readingSeva Programs Soar Past their Goals
Even in a year as challenging as 2020, Seva’s programs soared. Between June and December of last year, we supported six new vision centers. Now we’re on track to fund a total of 30 by June 30, 2021 (beating our goal of 13)! Our largest number of these new vision centers are in India; others are located in Nepal, Cambodia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. This year also marks our first vision centers in Latin America!
Continue readingAn Investment Program Consistent with Our Values
Seva’s board had long aspired to reflect the values of the organization in its investment portfolio through social screening, not holding the stock of companies deemed objectionable (e.g., fossil fuel, tobacco, etc.). Unfortunately, given our size, a cost-effective socially screened option was not available, and the board decided to invest Seva’s assets in a low-cost passively managed target-risk fund. The purely passive implementation kept costs low but meant that Seva could not eliminate certain objectionable securities from its portfolio holdings.
Continue readingWomen Who Transformed Eye Care
Women have played an integral role in the field of eye care throughout history, from the development of new inventions to creating new models of care, to holding key leadership roles – they are transforming the eye care landscape day after day.
Continue readingSeva Women in Action
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Mother Teresa
One woman alone can create a ripple. When she’s joined by others, she creates a wave that moves the world. We know this because we’ve seen it in action around the world and we see it every day at Seva.
The Executive Director at Seva works diligently to lead the organization with purpose and vision, leaving no stone unturned in our mission to transform lives around the world by restoring sight. The Program Director and Researcher collaborate with partners around the world to implement innovative eye care solutions that address real needs.
Continue readingDr. Larry Brilliant says we can still beat Covid-19 BUT…
“If we think of Covid-19 as a wildfire – and it surely spreads like one – we have failed to extinguish it. We still have fires burning all over the country,” says Dr. Brilliant, a world-renowned epidemiologist.
Dr. Brilliant together with W. Ian Lipkin, Lisa Danzig, and Karen Pak Oppenheimer published an article in the Wall Street Journal today. They discuss what’s to come next for the pandemic with new variants, vaccines, and planning for future public health challenges. The message is clear: We can still beat COVID-19 using many of the strategies leveraged in the past to deal with Smallpox, Ebola, Swine, and other viruses, but we must act fast and in concerted efforts.
Continue readingHappy International Women’s Day from Seva
I want to send a happy International Women’s Day today to all the amazing women like Happiness transforming the world with their courage and compassion.
As we celebrate and remember our power to transform the world let us also remember the millions of women around the world who still don’t have basic human rights. When we do, we can answer the call to amplify their voices.
On behalf of the most dedicated and talented teams, thank you for working toward a world that is a safe and inclusive place for women and girls.
Kate Moynihan
Executive Director
Spread some Happiness!
When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”
Call it a cliché, but when you see it in action, you know you’re witnessing something special. Seva’s partners worldwide have faced some challenging circumstances over the past twelve months, making the provision of critical eye care to people in need more difficult. But thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, when the going got tough, the tough could get going!
Take for example, Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH), one of our partners in Uttar Pradesh, India. When COVID-19 hit India hard last year, many people who needed eye care weren’t able to visit the clinic. So in the town of Naujheel, the clinic’s team took eye care to the people’s doorsteps instead.
Continue readingMeet our Vision Excellence Award Winners!
The International Association of Blindness (IAPB) created the Vision Excellence Award to commemorate the end of its 21-year global initiative, VISION 2020: A Right to Sight. In recognition of their life-changing, world-transforming work in the field of humanitarian eye care, IAPB has recognized a total of ten Seva team members and partners with the prize.
“On behalf of the whole Seva family, congratulations to these extraordinary sight leaders and practitioners,” says Kate Moynihan, Executive Director of Seva Foundation. “Seva staff and partners consistently set the standard for patient-centered vision care. Today’s award winners share the commitment and quality of work that brings access to sustainable eye care to millions of individuals and their communities worldwide. I can’t wait to see how – together – we will continue to change the world.”
Thank you for supporting Seva and making these incredible accomplishments possible!
Continue readingIn Pursuit of Equity
Wisely and from the start, founders and staff of the Seva Foundation knew to listen. We do now, as they did then. We listen to the local and international scientific/social/technical experts, we listen to one another, and most importantly – we carefully listen to the communities and individuals we serve. From listening, we can achieve a pathway to equity.
Equity has always been a stated core value for the Seva Foundation and continues to be the guiding light for our decision making.
Through our decades of service, we came to understand that women and girls were far less likely than men to receive treatment, and for severe vision loss, the inequity increases. With your contributions, sight-saving programs were developed, along with more healthy communities. Seva is here, driving change, unlocking local excellence to address the inequity. Regaining sight is transformative and it results in better futures, especially for women and girls.
The antidote to injustice is equity, and the mechanism for change is listening. Thank you for listening throughout the years and for supporting Seva to transform lives across the world.
A New Year brings a new opportunity to recommit to equity. Every day our staff, partners, and board of directors work tirelessly to ensure that one day, every child will wake up in a world where they have access to care for avoidable blindness.
Yours in service,
Kate
