At just 15, Emily faced a life-changing challenge when she suddenly lost her sight after years of watery, itchy eyes. Unable to attend school or work, she spent months at home, unsure of what her future might hold.
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Across low-and-middle-income countries, less than half of 10-year-old children can read. This alarming phenomenon has been labelled by education experts around the world as the global ‘learning crisis’: A bitter-sweet situation in which we have achieved near universal primary education, including gender parity, but in which children are not achieving sufficient mastery of basic literacy and numeracy.
Policymakers will need to use a variety of tools to address the learning deficit. One promising but under-considered intervention is hiding in plain sight: eyeglasses.
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At the tender age of 11, Pisey is already studying the Khmer language and learning to write in its formal, more difficult form. But she doesn’t stop there; she also draws pictures to accompany her writing. So it was surprising when Pisey’s mom, Dai Vanneth, observed that something was amiss with Pisey’s eyes; they watered while she slept.
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You read that right, nonprofits. We know nonprofits don’t often come top of mind as being “disruptive,” but we’re here to paint a new picture. Compassion has always been an important driver of innovation at Seva.
At Seva, we invest in a suite of cutting-edge and revolutionary technologies to create a world free of avoidable blindness. Leveraging millions of data points, four decades of experience, and a network of leading public health experts, engineers, and physicians, our best-in-class tech solutions revolutionize the way eye care is delivered worldwide.
“We operate at the scale of a major corporation and the nimbleness of a start-up. Straddling this balance is disrupting the future of ophthalmology and public health – for good”.
– Kate Moynihan, Executive Director, Seva Foundation.
I see a future astronaut, a teacher, a surgeon or a nurse, and even the next President!
When I joined Seva’s Communications Team in 2019, I made it my mission to inspire action through powerful insights and stories. I dig through data, edit donor reports, and work on advertising campaigns but my greatest joy is reading about the children we serve – learning about their big, bold dreams – and sharing them with you!
Kids like Milka, John, Wendy, and Debdit (pictured above) see this world with starry-eyes, as an adventure where sky’s the limit. They inspire me, as I’m sure they do you, to never lose sight of what’s important in life – joy. It’s why my heart breaks for children who are forced to see the world with uncertainty & despair instead of hope and wonder – and all because of a solvable problem.
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In late February, Indian-American singing group Soor Aur Saptak (SAS) held its eleventh annual musical benefit in Portland, Oregon. The theme of this year’s benefit was “Your melody matches mine,” and rightly so. It was a captivating night of Bollywood music, dancing, and singing – all while raising funds to provide eye care for children in India.
Sandhiprakash Bhide, Founder of Soor Aur Saptak, shared, “we cannot believe it has been 11 years since we started this program back in 2012. This would not have been possible without the generous Portland community and now the world community because of our online program.”
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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!
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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!
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There are 19 million children worldwide under the age of 15 who live with impaired vision. In 2018, moved by this alarming statistic, Seva made a commitment to screen 1 million children and provide all necessary follow-up care by December 2020. This major undertaking was supported by Seva’s corporate partner, MODO, and other Seva supporters.
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For most of her life, Shakeela Bibi did not realize she had a vision problem. A 14-year old girl living in Pakistan, Shakeela had to drop out of school after two years because she could not keep up with her peers. She had trouble reading the blackboard and would copy off of other students’ notes instead.
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