Seva Canada is currently seeking funding for the following major projects:
Reaching the unreached Support outreach clinics in rural areas. Currently our partner in Tanzania, the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology conducts over 84 outreach camps, or Direct Referral Sites, every year or 7 a month. In order to adequately serve the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, they need to expand this service. You can support 10 Direct Referral Sites for $4,500 including transportation, staffing and supplies. Read more here.
Reducing the burden of childhood blindness in Africa Seva Canada is seeking funding for urgent cataract surgeries for children in Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi and Madagascar. 300,000 children in Africa are blind and hundreds of thousands more have low vision. Congenital/developmental cataract is one of the leading causes of blindness in children and the incidence is 6 to 10 times more common than in Canada. Childhood blindness and low vision affects families and communities for generations and drives families deeper into poverty. The cost of one surgery is $300 and includes advance screening, all surgical costs, the hospital stay, post-op care and transportation. Help us restore sight to as many children as possible. Read more here.
Eye care in the remote hill districts Seva has been creating 9 Primary Eye Care Centres in remote districts of Nepal that had no eye care whatsoever. These centres are equipped with basic eye care equipment and are staffed by an ophthalmic assistant. They can treat about 90% of eye problems at the centres. Seva is seeking funding of $5000 for salaries and support for 8 Primary Eye Care Centres.
Outreach screening camps Each year Seva conducts about about 25 eye camps a year in remote areas. Each camp serves hundreds of people. Seva is seeking funding of $10,000 for these camps to reach those in need in an area of the world with the highest rate of preventable and treatable blindness.
New Vision Centre in Cambodia Seva is currently building a Vision Centre in Moung Roussey in Battambang Province (see blog post). This is an area where there is a high rate of preventable and treatable blindness. The Vision Centre, which will be up and running in the spring of 2012, will employ an ophthalmic nurse as well as a field worker and will have essential equipment for examining and treating simple eye conditions. About 90% of eye problems can be dealt with at the Vision Centre and those patients who need further care, such as cataract surgery, will be transported to Seva’s partner in Battambang. It is expected that 6600 hundred people will be screened annually through screening camps, 200 people per month will visit the clinic itself and 3000 people will be referred for treatment annually to the Battambang Ophthalmic Care Centre. Seva is seeking funding for a portion of the construction costs and operating costs of the Centre.
Create a Vision Centre Seva is seeking funding to develop community ophthalmology programs in partnership with Aravind Eye Care System through the funding of new vision centres in the country. There are currently 3 centres and 10 more planned. The cost per centre is $38,800, including equipment, operating and outreach. Read more here.
Seva Canada is proud to be a member of VISION 2020
