When I was 6 years old, I had a major eye accident in which a shard of glass basically cut my eye in half. I was rushed to the hospital and given emergency surgery, and in the following months I needed 3 additional surgeries to restore my eye. The fact that I left the hospital after my 4th surgery still being able to see, with only a scar on my eye that still remains, is a miracle that even the eye surgeons themselves are baffled by. This point in my life changed my perspective on life and made me realize how grateful I am for the things I have, especially my sight. However, there are tens of millions of people who have eye issues and accidents but cannot afford to pay for the care the need. Or perhaps, they live in an area without the medical personnel necessary. Ever since this accident happened, my philanthropic focus has been geared to organizations that deal with ophthalmology and optometry - organizations that give others the second chance at sight that I was given.
One organization that accomplishes this is the Seva Foundation. Seva’ is a 501c3 organization whose mission statement is that it “works with local communities around the world to develop self-sustaining programs that preserve and restore sight”. It’s vision is simply “A world free of blindness”. The way Seva tackles blindness is through funding training initiatives that increase the amount of doctors that are able to treat blindness. The focus of Seva is on poor people living in third-world countries, and they want to have a long-term effect in every person they treat. Sustainability, gender equity, and universal access are just a few of the many core values that they hold. Seva also believes that through ridding the world of blindness, it simultaneously helps lift people out of poverty, since it has been proven that being poor is a major reason that many people become blind (they can’t afford eye care), and vice versa. Seva’s approach to blindness helps empower women, leads to educational opportunities, and creates immediate and long-term change.
I could go on about how amazing of an organization this is, as they really do the best they can to tackle such a huge issue - one that cripples 36 million people worldwide. Since they started 40 years ago, they have helped 4 million people regain their vision. However, what really matters to the class is the financial aspect of donating to Seva; where will our money go? 84.6% of Seva’s income goes to its programs, which is a good number considering the fact that it also has to pay the doctors that it employs. In 2016, their income was $6,748, 453, while their expenses were $5,943, 071 - a deficit of $805, 382. In terms of our small donation, though, it is unclear where exactly it will go - Seva funnels their money in what they need most at the time. However, one reason for blindness are cataracts, which can be removed with a 15 minute, $50 surgery. Our money could cure one or two children of blindness, and change their lives forever. If our money doesn’t go to that, there are dozens of other places it could go through Seva - each just as important as the others.
I implore you to look further into Seva Foundation as I believe it is my way of giving back to the medical world for preventing me from being blind in one eye. Thank you for reading!
Sources
http://www.seva.org/site/PageServer
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=5295
http://iceh.lshtm.ac.uk/poverty-equality-and-blindness/
Hello!
ReplyDeleteWow, your story is a true paradox, a miraculous tragedy. It was very fortunate you were able to seek and receive medical attention for something that was apparently preventable and continue your life mostly unscathed and with a new appreciation for what we naturally are given. I feel like all to often we get caught up in our day to day life and we don’t stop to enjoy or cherish what we have; rather than be upset or angry about what we don’t have.
You mention that you’re not sure where our donation will go. But after reading through SEVAs website I think that the donation will have a real impact. It seems as you are relying on both head and heart here. I want to note this as this discussion was raised in a blog post last week.
[“Take, for example, providing a guide dog for a blind person. That's a good thing to do, right?... It costs about 40,000 dollars to train a guide dog and train the recipient so that the guide dog can be an effective help to a blind person. It costs somewhere between 20 and 50 dollars to cure a blind person in a developing country if they have trachoma.” Essentially, he’s saying that “You could provide one guide dog for one blind American, or you could cure between 400 and 2,000 people of blindness.” there are thousands of people who are struck with river blindness, yet it is a very treatable and curable disease.]
So not are you only doing a good thing, but you are also being effective. I feel like we have become polarized over this issue of head or heart when they really need to coexist together for optimal productivity; head and heart.
I think the organization you have picked not only encompasses something that really matters to you, but also something that will have a large impact. I think your example is one that we should all continue to strive to have our non-profit involvement resemble. Pick what you love but pick something that will make what you care about a real difference.
Great Job,
Jacob Croes
Isabella,
ReplyDeleteYour story is crazy! Thankfully, everything turned out alright for you. Sadly though, the same can't be said for many people around the world. In many poor nations, cataracts is a serious issue that develops from poor nutrition and health issue. Incredibly, the procedure to correct cataracts is easy and cheap. That is why I was very interested when you said that Seva was training doctors to perform these treatments. Treating cataracts is not only a health initiative; it can lead to economic benefits like you described. A study titled the "Cataract Impact Study" found that "the benefits of restoring sight last for the long term. The study found that 6 years after having their sight restored by cataract surgery, people had sustained improvements to their financial situation and quality of life. The gap had been closed in their economic and social wellbeing." So, this charity can help completely change a person's life. Very interesting. The one thing I would like to know is how much of their resources go to training and how much go to paying for the treatment themselves. Thank you for sharing you story and teaching me about an awesome organization. Good luck on your pitch!
Hi Isabella,
ReplyDeleteIt's already been said twice but again, your story really is both incredible and unimaginable; the fact that even your doctors were baffled by your recovery epitomizes what some would call a miracle. I must say that when I first started reading your post I thought it was going to be an organization that is so large that our donation would be practically negligible, but having looked around the site some more, this does not seem to be the case. Maybe it's true that there are other organizations we could donate to that would be able to affect and better the lives of more people, but I think that donating to Seva could really have great long term effects. One thing we've talked about in class was finding a way to fix a problem and not just slapping a band aid on it. This organization does just that. Seva permanently betters lives through both fast and cheap surgeries as well as through training people to help out with eye conditions in the future. I think this is a great example of a nonprofit that our class could get behind and donate to, especially since you have such a great personal story for why you picked it.
Dear Isabella,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing the topic of eyesight to the discussion. Without taking it for granted, we need to realize how much of an advantage we, people with eyesight have over the ones who aren't lucky enough.
As I read your example of $50 surgery, I remembered reading about a Nepalese eye doctor that was granted an entry to North Korea. In couple hours, he restored eyesight of many thousand people. "His patients suffer from eye conditions that are mostly preventable. But because of poverty and limited access to public health services they have been unable to seek treatment" (Brown). Simply by removing cloudy cataract that impaired vision of the mention people, the doctor radically changed lives. I referenced this example to show sometimes how easily seek-able a solution can be but people simply do not have access to information and treatment. That being said, I think Seva will be a great organization to donate.
Your past experience and the fact that you chose Seva for the post shows that the accident was a true epiphany. With that in mind, I think you are supporting a significant cause and have chosen a great foundation to show your appreciation.
Hi Isabella,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to read how fortunate you were to have your eye saved. If the class decides to donate to Seva, I think our money could go far; because as you said, cataracts can be cured with a $50 surgery.
You say that your philanthropic focus is on ophthalmology and optometry, so I would like to introduce you to another non-profit in the eye care world, in case you would like to consider donating to them in the future. It is called Optometry Giving Sight. I heard of this non-profit because my mom regularly gives to them.
Optometry Giving Sight funds the establishment of eye care centers in countries where eye care is not easily accessible. They also fund the training of people in these countries to provide the services as well. One way they do this is through donating textbooks and equipment. Another way, is by funding optometry schools. One recent success was the opening of the Haiti School of Optometry. The optometry school will allow locally educated eye care professionals to provide eye care to hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti.
Seva does seem like a really great organization; thanks for sharing it and your story with us!
Hi Isabella!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such a personal story with us! I appreciate that you have used that experience to empower yourself to take action for the blind and those in need of eye care. I absolutely love the mission of the organization and its focus on ensuring that eye care is accessible to those who cannot afford it. I think this is one of those issues that is often overlooked and some of us don't see how this may influence another area of a person's life. As such, I liked that you mentioned the link between poverty and blindness because there is indeed a correlation between both. If a person is blind, especially in a developing country where there aren't as many opportunities for people with disabilities then that results in families being more prone to end up in poverty. I appreciate the core values of Seva and the fact that see the need to provide equal opportunities to all people
I believe regardless of how small our donation might seem to Seva, we can be confident that it will make a difference. If we can help cure one case of cataract then that's one less person that my end up blind and one less family being at risk to end up in poverty.
I think this is an organization that I would support even outside of this class. Seva seems to be doing a really great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Isabella,
Thanks for sharing your story. You must be very grateful that you still have you sight after what happened to you when you were six years old. In fact, many of us should feel the same way, but we tend to take what we have for granted. There are many precious things in life, things that we get used to having so that we forget how lucky we are to have them. I can’t even begin to imagine what my life would be if I lose my eyesight, let alone being in the shoes of those people who were born blind, who have never got a chance to see this world. So, we should feel bless to be able to see. And not only that, we should really sympathize and seek to help others who are suffering from blindness as well.
I like that you mentioned how curing blindness can simultaneously lift people out of poverty. Indeed, a blind person can find it really hard to survive in this world, if 50 dollars can curing a person of blindness, the butterfly effect related to that would be enormous.
So, what the Seva Foundation is contributing to is a fabulous cause, as I am taking a look at their website, they seem like an very effective organization with good transparency. As they stated, Restoring sight is one of the most effective ways to relieve suffering and reduce poverty. And the fact that they have helped 4 million people to regain their sights shows that it must be worth our donation.