From the world-wide Seva team, Happy World Sight Day!
Each year, on this day we recommit ourselves to closing the gap between those with and without access to eye care.
90% of people who live with vision loss are in developing countries where eye care is limited or nonexistent. What does that mean? A life without sight = a life often limited in education, employment, and independence that can ultimately throw families into cycles of poverty. For us, solving this crisis boils down to two things:
Science, data, and comprehensive public health solutions work best when coupled with compassion, community, and a little fun. Want to put a stat on this theory? Since 1978, over 50 million people have received eye care services through your support!
A First-of-Its-Kind Plan to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness in Guatemala
Globally, 1.1 billion people live with vision impairment. In remote communities and developing countries, where access to eye care is limited, this can lead to generations of hardship. Today, we stand at an important moment in history – the beginning of the end of avoidable blindness, first in Guatemala, then across the world.
If you’ve ever wondered about our vibrant history, the people, ideas and solutions that make the magic of restoring sight possible, and all those untold “Seva stories” you heard through the grapevine – look no further! We dug through 40+ years of rich Seva archives, asked our teams around the world, and are here to give you that exclusive, behind-the-scenes look.
Tune in each week on our YouTube channel and social media platforms for a new edition of What’s That Seva Stuff, hosted by Dr. Suzanne Gilbert, Senior Director of Research and Strategic Opportunities!
Technology allows us to look inequity in the eye and level the playing field. When combined with compassion, it transforms the lives of people thousands of miles away with a simple click of a button.
Sadly, vision impairment continues to rob millions of people every year of a promising future. At Seva we know that this is a solvable public health crisis. 90% of all vision loss is preventable and treatable. Our research validates that investing in eye health improves overall wellbeing, community participation, and economic outlook for families.
We take the work seriously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously! Seva Co-Founders Wavy Gravy & Jahanara Romney – a dynamic duo, hippie icons, and pair of saints – taught us that. They’ve dedicated their lives to public service, activism, and spreading unconditional joy.
“Those who experienced the founders’ period know how close to the heart of Seva the delicate dance between spirit and form is, between inner and outer. Seva was at its strongest when these dualities worked together with respect and in dynamic balance. It was also true that Seva took the longest strides and generated the most satisfying fellowship when actions were firmly rooted in the conscious effort to be of service to others.
Service and spirit are the heart of the Seva vision. These notions did not originate with Seva, nor has Seva any copyright on either of them, but in explorations that took place over many years, through many meetings and in diverse projects around the world, by heated argument and in loving story, a distinctive rendering of the vision of service and spirit took form at the very heart of this organization. Honoring in notion and in practice the core of its founding vision – even as it may adopt conventional forms of management – is how Seva can continue to be an inspiring source of this needed wisdom and a vehicle to carry it into the future.
Then the unique and potent spirit that has animated Seva from its founding will continue to be vital and will find new ways to be expressed within this evolving organization.”
Seva shares special history with Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, as a supporter, ambassador, and our first partner in Bangladesh. Since 2006, we’ve worked together to establish hospitals, perfect our training programs, and establish sustainable systems of eye care throughout the country that reach millions.
Half the Sky – a book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn published in 2009 – argues that the oppression of women worldwide is “the paramount moral challenge” of the present era. Women and girls face gender bias daily, particularly in rural communities.
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.
Onwards & Upwards
Kate Moynihan Executive Director
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