HELP PREVENT BLINDNESS AND RESTORE SIGHT
Donate today at operationeyesight.com or call 1-800-585-8265
REGISTERED CHARITY # 119068955 RR 0001
March • 2022
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Washing Away Blindness For All the World to See ELINA’S STORY Turning on the tap and getting clean, abundant water is something many of us take for granted. For people like Elina, who lives in the remote village of Munkala in Zambia’s Sinazongwe District, lack of access to clean water can mean the difference between sight and blindness. When Elina began having intense pain in her eyes, she had few options for treatment. Living 120 km from the nearest hospital, she and her family spent all they had in search of answers, including local traditional healers. However, Elina continued to suffer for nearly two years. “My eyes were so painful. I had to remain indoors all the time,” the 63-year-old grand-
ELINA FROM ZAMBIA © OPERATION EYESIGHT
mother of four recalls. When Operation Eyesight heard about Elina’s story, local teams diagnosed her with trachoma, a bacterial disease that leads to permanent blindness if left untreated. Fortunately, Operation Eyesight partners provided surgery and antibiotics before Elina lost her vision permanently. Thanks to Operation Eyesight’s generous donors, Elina received her care free of charge. When Elina’s vision worsened a year later due to cataracts, Operation Eyesight donors again made it possible to have visionsaving and life-changing surgery. CLEAN WATER AND AVOIDABLE BLINDNESS Trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide, with 2.5 million cases globally each year. The disease is spread through touch, shared garments, and sometimes eye-seeking flies. Left untreated, trachoma infections cause scarring inside the eyelids, making the eyelashes scratch the cornea. This causes severe pain and can lead to irreversible blindness. Thanks to Operation Eyesight’s
work in communities like Elina’s, in 2017, the prevalence of trachoma in the southern Zambian district of Sinazongwe decreased to less than 2.1 percent, down from 14.4 percent just five years earlier. Operation Eyesight uses a fourpronged approach to eliminating trachoma in communities, following the acronym SAFE—Surgery to treat trichiasis (the painful late stage of the disease), Antibiotics to eliminate infection, Face washing and hygiene education, and Environmental change, including wells and latrines. In Zambia and also in Kenya, Operation Eyesight is laying the foundation for healthy communities by building wells, drilling and rehabilitating boreholes, providing vision care and treatment, and educating communities on hygiene practices. By providing communities with clean water, vision care and treatment, and education, Operation Eyesight has successfully eliminated trachoma in Sinazongwe District and is on track to eliminate trachoma in four districts in the central part of Zambia.
“We know that access to fresh water and proper sanitation for people to wash their hands, face, and clothing helps prevent the spread of trachoma and a host of other illnesses,” explains Paul Mpundu Kulya, Operation Eyesight’s Project Coordinator in Zambia. “Operation Eyesight is paving the way to eliminating preventable blindness in our communities.” When a borehole is drilled or rehabilitated, Operation Eyesight then sets up local Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) committees. Members are trained to maintain the borehole, ensure its longevity, and provide community health education sessions to help people improve their sanitation habits. RIPPLE EFFECT Along with helping prevent the transmission of illnesses like trachoma, malaria, and COVID-19, a clean water source empowers communities to become hubs for local trade and provides increased economic opportunities. “In many communities, the task of hauling water commonly falls to women and girls. Locally accessible
STUDENTS GETTING WATER FROM A BOREHOLE NEAR THEIR SCHOOL IN SINAZONGWE, ZAMBIA © OPERATION EYESIGHT
water means women and girls have time to go to school, earn a living or become more active in their family or community,” says Operation Eyesight President and CEO Kashinath Bhoosnurmath. Bhoosnurmath says new schools are often built near boreholes due to their central location and easy access to water. Existing schools are expanded to accommodate increased attendance, as more girls can participate in school now that they don’t have to walk far distances to fetch water. World Water Day is Tuesday, March 22. A donation to Operation Eyesight helps provide clean water and prevent blindness and empower communities across the globe. Learn more at operationeyesight.com
Sir Lenny Henry: We Need Red Nose Day Now More Than Ever Sir Lenny Henry says people need Red Nose Day now more than ever. The 63-year-old comedian— best known for co-founding charity Comic Relief—has insisted the “familiarity” of Red Nose Day, which takes place on Friday, March 18, is vital amid the coronavirus pandemic when people still aren’t seeing family members. He told ‘BBC Breakfast:’ “When everybody is not seeing their mums and dads and their grans, when everybody is struggling because of the pandemic. “The fact that there is something that they can plug into that’s familiar, that has people they know, that has heart and love and comedy at its core, we all love to watch and to laugh.” Red Nose Day—founded in 1988—is the annual fundraising campaign set up by the non-profit organization Comic Relief. Lenny is one of Britain’s best-
known and loved personalities, working as an actor, writer, comedian, and television personality. Lenny is known for films like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Penelope Krull, and more. After co-founding Comic Relief in 1985 and later beginning the annual campaign Red Nose Day, Lenny has been recognized as a driving force of the charity, working with the organization for more than 20 years and has since been appointed as an Honorary Life President of Comic Relief. Its mission is to end child poverty by raising money to fund programs to help keep children safe, healthy, and educated. Lenny added: “It comically provides a space where we can gather together and watch things and go, ‘Well actually, things aren’t so bad; I’m going to help out with that.’ “On the night, for me, it’s just the joy of watching the comical pantomime, or those
guys singing opera where they’ve never sung it before. All of these things are extraordinary to me, makes me want to help out, makes me want to give, and that, for me, is what Comic Relief has always been about.” Lenny, who was knighted for his work as the charity’s trustee, is touched by people’s generosity in times of hardship and says it’s something we should truly be proud of. He said: “Moments of true sincerity where you are moved to do something that you normally wouldn’t do, like reach into your pockets and give $1, $2, $3, $4 or $5, that’s always been the case. “And I think the general public’s generosity in times of hardship when they see somebody that is worse off than themselves, they just want to help. “They help in places like this and the third world, too, and it’s something that we should be proud of.” (Source: Reuters)
SIR LENNY HENRY ON WHY WE NEED RED NOSE DAY NOW MORE THAN EVER BEFORE © REUTERS/BANG-SHOWBIZ
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Support and Opportunity Empower Women Leaving Prison to Rebuild Their Lives The future is bright for Lisa Bowden but not long ago, things were not quite so promising. Lisa had come into conflict with the law, which led to her incarceration, first in a provincial prison in Manitoba and then at a healing lodge in Saskatchewan. During this time, she learned about restorative justice, which sparked a passion for creating a positive difference for both herself and others. When it came time for parole, Lisa applied for a place at Columbia House, an Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver (EFry) transitional housing program in New Westminster, B.C. that helps women re-establish stable lives after incarceration. “I learned about Columbia Place from a friend who had been there and found everyone very supportive,” said Lisa. “I was really interested in the work EFry does and hoped at some point I might have the opportunity to contribute to it.”
LISA BOWDEN LEARNED TO TURN WASTE WOOL INTO ARTISANAL WOOLS AND YARNS THROUGH EFRY’S SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, WOOLWERX. © COURTESY OF EFRY
It didn’t take long. Within two months at Columbia Place, Lisa was offered a job at Woolwerx, EFry’s social enterprise that trains and employs marginalized women in transforming donated
waste wool into a variety of artisanal wools, yarns and fleece products sold at craft fairs or online at woolwerx.com. “Working at Woolwerx has been really healing because there’s no stigma,” said Lisa. “Everyone has that common experience of being incarcerated and then choosing to pursue a different kind of future. We’re all really supportive of each other. If you’re having a hard day emotionally, there’s always someone to help. And I find it rewarding to create things of beauty and value out of something that would otherwise be thrown away.” Lisa’s interest in helping women avoid future conflicts with the law also continued to grow. “There’s this perception that anyone who’s been in prison is bad, and that simply isn’t true,” she said. “Sometimes people just make mistakes and in a lot of cases, challenges with mental health are what led to the issues.
I’ve experienced both being punished and being supported and let me tell you, helping someone heal is much better at stopping recidivism.” Last summer, EFry launched PathwaysNotPrisons.ca, a website aimed at raising awareness of its decarceration advocacy campaign. The initiative calls for changes to reduce the number of women in prison by removing racism from the justice system; eliminating roadblocks to bail, such as poverty resulting in holding women pretrial; and treatment rather than prison for women with substance use and mental health challenges. Lisa was excited to become involved. “EFry was hiring people with lived experience to help with the program and I got one of the jobs,” said Lisa. “I wanted to continue working with Woolwerx too and they made it possible for me to do both. I’ve learned so much about how organizations
Dignity. Equality. Opportunity. Three words that can transform marginalized women’s and children’s lives. Learn more: efry.com
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like EFry can make positive change happen.” On top of her two jobs, Lisa is one of several Columbia Place residents contributing to the development of a collaborative cookbook for justice-involved women. Before her legal system involvement, Lisa was a cook and drew on that expertise to provide easy recipes and stories she hopes will help women re-establish healthy relationships with food. Soon, Lisa will return to Manitoba to be with her partner. “I feel so ready for my new life,” she says. “I look forward to using the skills I’ve learned to help more women build brighter futures just like I have.” EFry is a charity dedicated to helping women and children at risk, involved in or affected by the justice system. Donors make many of its programs possible. To learn more or support EFry, visit efry.com.
