Your Majesty, on your 90 birthday, th
we celebrate your patronage.
Š Sightsavers/Rachel Palmer
Many Happy Returns Your Majesty
thank you for being our patron Within this book we hope to portray the excellent progress and achievements Sightsavers has made throughout the decades with the wonderful support of your Patronage. From endorsing our work by granting our Royal Status, to visiting our headquarters and meeting with our staff you have shown great commitment and given tremendous validity to our cause. Our work is changing lives and communities for the long term and we believe we are on the verge of some historic changes in eye health and for people with disabilities. We continue to go from strength to strength, increasing our impact at the country level and our influence on the global stage.
We are so very grateful and privileged to have your dedicated support for our life-changing work. There are many people from our organisation who want to convey special birthday messages to you. We hope you enjoy reading these messages along with some examples of the great advancements we have made in the countries we work in.
We are extremely proud to be working with the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust to secure a legacy in your honour, by making a major contribution to the elimination of blinding trachoma within the Commonwealth.
Very best wishes,
Dr Caroline Harper CBE, CEO of Sightsavers
Our Stories it all started with a visionary Sir John Wilson, our founder, had the following vision when he formed the charity in 1950; “strong enough to command world attention, yet remain simple enough to be effective in an African village.�
A personal message from
Lady Jean Wilson Widow of our founder Sir John Wilson
Your Majesty, all through these years since 1951, when
In 1971 when you graciously opened Commonwealth
you graciously followed your father as Patron of this
House in Haywards Heath as the new office of the
Society, we have immensely appreciated your active
Society, you took time to talk to each member of the
involvement in its development.
staff and to the volunteers.
In 1957, when the Society’s name was changed
In 2010, you cordially invited us to celebrate our 60th
from the British Empire Society for the Blind to
birthday with a reception at Buckingham Palace.
the Commonwealth Society for the Blind you kindly commanded the addition of Royal to the name of the Society.
These are just three examples of your interest in the work of the Society for which we are deeply grateful.
Our achievements
1950s
The British Empire Society for the Blind becomes Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind
Ground breaking survey in Africa reveals to the world that a large percentage of blindness is preventable
Nigeria, 1950, teaching students to read and write in Braille
The British Empire Society for the Blind was formed The first eye clinics are set up in Kaduna and Katsina in Nigeria
Our achievements
1960s
High volume cataract surgery is launched in India through village eye camps
The first eye camp was held in Pakistan
The first mobile eye units were launched in Kenya and Uganda
People with visual impairments arriving to learn life-changing skills
Open education programs for blind children were pioneered throughout the developing world Pioneered open education programmes for irreversibly blind children
Š Sightsavers 2015/Peter Nicholls
Our Stories hrh princess alexandra, president of sightsavers HRH Princess Alexandra became President of Sightsavers in 1960 and has since attended a number of Sightsavers’ events in the UK and overseas. On a visit to our Headquarters in 2015 she said, “Your work is extremely important and I would like to thank you very much for all that you do.” We are hugely proud and privileged to have such an inspirational President.
Photo © World Bank
A personal message from
Martin Dinham CBE With 31 million people in the world avoidably blind, there is a huge job for Sightsavers to do. It’s a privilege to be part of an organisation that is making such a difference to people’s lives and inspiring to have Your Majesty as its Patron and HRH Princess Alexandra as its President.
A personal message from
Elizabeth Owuor – Oyugi Sightsavers Country Director in Kenya
Your Majesty, on your 90th birthday, the people
I will never forget meeting you in 2015 at Buckingham
of Kenya join the world in sending you the best of
Palace and seeing one of our trachoma photos in such
birthday wishes on this special day. Through your
an esteemed setting. It felt surreal and humbling that
generous support channelled through The Queen
one so great could spare time to meet with me and
Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust’s Trachoma Initiative,
talk about eliminating blindness in Kenya.
19,612 Kenyans have had sight restoring surgeries and a further 3,020,156 people have received antibiotics for prevention of eye infections. We admire your devotion to duty and are thankful for your deeply-held affection for our country. We salute you for your determination to eliminate blinding trachoma in Kenya.
Photo © The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust/Tara Moore
Happy birthday Your Majesty!
Our Stories climbing mount kilimanjaro In 1969, seven blind men from Uganda,
Your telegram to the climbers was hugely
Nigeria and Tanzania climbed Mount
appreciated after their amazing feat:
Kilimanjaro – this was an idea of Sir John Wilson’s as he wanted to challenge the discrimination that he’d witnessed during his travels around Africa and Asia.
“Please convey to the seven blind climbers who reached the summit of Kilimanjaro my warm congratulations on their splendid achievement.”
Highlights of
2015
the completion of the global trachoma mapping project (gtmp) In 2015 we completed the Global Trachoma Mapping Project covering 29 countries and over 1600 districts. This three year project involved 24 organisations in a coalition led by Sightsavers, with 2,500 people across the world estimated to be involved. The data shows where trachoma treatments are required and will enable far better targeting of effort.
Š Sightsavers 2015/Kate Holt
Our achievements
1970s
We were a driving force in establishing the World Health Organisation’s Prevention of Blindness programme and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
Your Majesty opening our new headquarters in 1971
Nigeria, 1974, Cataract operations changing lives
Collaborated with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to distribute vitamin A to prevent childhood blindness The first in-country surgical training program started in Bangladesh
Our achievements
1980s
People with visual impairments working in a packing factory in Bangalore, 1984
Launched a revolutionary Braille production unit in Africa using computer technology to transcribe texts, thereby increasing the availability of Braille texts in East Africa
An emergency appeal was launched to help those blinded in the Bhopal disaster in India
After a hugely successful Blue Peter appeal asking children to ‘become a Sight Saver’, the charity became commonly known as ‘Sightsavers’
Introduced in-country training programmes for all levels of eye-care personnel, education and rehabilitation workers
A personal message from
Lord Nigel Crisp KCB Former Chair of Sightsavers
Your Majesty, may I wish you many congratulations on your 90th birthday. Since you became Patron of Sightsavers, the charity has grown considerably in terms of reach and profile. Your Patronage means a great deal and I’d like to thank you for your inspirational leadership and dedication to our cause.
A personal message from
Richard Porter Former CEO of Sightsavers
I had the honour and pleasure of running Sightsavers for 11 years. With the help of Royal Patronage the charity, in conjunction with its partners, enabled sight to be restored to, and blindness prevented among, countless numbers of the world’s poorest people. I would like to thank Your Majesty for supporting this truly humanitarian endeavour.
Our Stories eliminating blinding trachoma with the queen elizabeth diamond jubilee trust We are thrilled to be working with the
The project has also trained and
Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust
mobilised over 8,000 ‘case finders’
to eliminate blinding trachoma in Kenya
whose job it is to locate people in
and Malawi and make significant progress
need of treatment.
towards elimination in Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. Since the Trachoma Initiative was launched, over 36,000 people have been treated for trichiasis to correct their in-turned eyelashes and over 5.5 million people have been treated with antibiotics to reduce the spread of infection.
Photo Š Sightsavers/Jo Mitchell
Our Stories sight-saving cataract operations Aslam Momaq is a rickshaw driver in
Cataract is the world’s biggest cause of
Bangladesh. He has a large family to support
blindness, with around 20 million people
at home and when he developed cataract
blind as a result. Yet their sight could
he had to stop working. After two years, he
be restored with a straightforward and
was encouraged to go to an eye camp that
inexpensive operation that takes around
was being held at his local health centre.
20 minutes where the cloudy lens is
Cataract was diagnosed and he received the
replaced with a clear plastic lens.
sight-saving operation. After the operation Aslam was able to see again and go back to work – he was delighted! He and his family now spread the word about the simple and life-changing surgery and have sent another 15 people to go and have eye tests.
Photo Š Sightsavers 2012/Peter Caton
Since the charity was founded, we have supported over nine million eye operations of which 6,370,834 were cataract operations.
A personal message from
Sir John Coles Former Chair of Sightsavers
The concept of public service was once widely respected but less so now in our more individualistic society. Yet the idea is alive and well in our best NGOs, including Sightsavers. And it is with gratitude that we see in our Patron the finest example of that public service, practised over many decades.
A personal message from
Sir David Thompson KCMG Former Chair of Sightsavers
Under your leadership, millions of Commonwealth citizens can now see.
Highlights of
2015
the sustainable development goals (sdgs) the world agreed to leave no one behind The Sustainable Development Goals are a massive
Sightsavers was at the United Nations General
step forward for people with disabilities, particularly
Assembly to see the gavel come down on this historic
compared to the Millennium Development Goals.
agreement, and one of our employees represented the
The overarching theme, the statement about
UK as a ‘Young Leader’ during the opening ceremony.
‘reaching those furthest behind first’, and the specific references to disability within many of the goals were all tremendous to see. We worked tirelessly alongside other agencies (notably the International Disability Alliance (IDA)) so this is a real triumph. It was also good to see Neglected Tropical Diseases explicitly mentioned, along with Universal Health Coverage and the need to invest in health workers.
Š Sightsavers/Graeme Robertson
A personal message from
Chris Friend MBE Former Sightsavers employee
In March 1989 Sightsavers invited 12 visually impaired teenagers from its educational programs around the Commonwealth to visit London to meet Your Majesty. One of those young students who met you at the end of the Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey, then only 16 years old, went on to complete her school education and achieve her university degree. Today she is Senator Kerryann Ifill, President of the Senate of Barbados - one of a growing number of visually impaired Parliamentarians throughout the Commonwealth.
A personal message from
Her honour Senator Kerryann Ifill President of the Senate of Barbados
Excited, nervous and over-awed are some of the
On that Commonwealth Day, as I stood in
emotions which bubbled within my 16-year-old
Westminster Abbey, I shook the hand of someone
chest when I was selected from the Caribbean to
who had seemed so out of reach for a little girl
be part of the Sightsavers’ programme in 1989.
from the island of Barbados. Her Majesty impressed
When I learnt that among the other wonderful
me then and continues to represent for me dignity,
things I would experience I would have the
graciousness and a sense of dedication to duty that
honour to meet Her Majesty, my heart swelled
I try to emulate in my daily life and especially in
with a sense of humility.
my role with the Senate of Barbados. May I wish Her Majesty a very healthy and blessed birthday. Long may she reign!
Our achievements
1990s
Revolutionised the affordability of cataract surgery in the developing world with the establishment of a unit in India to produce high quality, low cost intraocular lenses and sutures
Sightsavers started distributing the drug MectizanŽ to combat river blindness. This was donated by the company Merck as a ‘gift in kind’ and this is still the case to this day Typing books into braille Bethuel, an itinerant teacher on his Sightsavers motorbike, Nairobi, 1990
Piloted a control programme in The Gambia for trachoma
Sightsavers signed up to Vision 2020, the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness
Our achievements
2000s
Continued to lead in the promotion of collaborative efforts to combat blindness through VISION 2020, the international consortium which aims to eradicate avoidable blindness by 2020
The Bangladesh Childhood Cataract Campaign was launched, whereby we pledged to restore the sight of every child in the country who has cataract
Sightsavers supported its threemillionth cataract operation and 50-millionth treatment of Mectizan®
The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities took effect. It will help prevent the discrimination and segregation faced by disabled people
Photo left © Sightsavers 2015/Helen Hamilton Photo Above © Sightsavers 2015/Eliza Deacon
Š Sightsavers
Highlights of
2015
emerging from ebola Our Country Director in Sierra Leone, Nancy Smart, was honoured by the President of Sierra Leone in recognition of Sightsavers’ support to the Government and people of Sierra Leone during the outbreak of the Ebola disease especially in the provision of support to the disabled and the provision of free eye treatment for survivors.
A personal message from
Simon Bush Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Sightsavers
In its 66-year history, and under your Patronage,
Our ambitious programme will ensure that
Sightsavers has supported over 718 million treatments
generations to come will not suffer from neglected
to protect against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).
tropical diseases. I would like to personally wish you
Communities lead on distributing these treatments
a wonderful 90th birthday and thank you for your
through networks of volunteers that cover thousands
commitment and dedication to causes such as ours.
of villages in 24 countries. NTDs can have devastating effects (including pain, blindness and disfigurement) – but we believe that we have the opportunity to finally see them eliminated.
A personal message from
Sir Nicholas Fenn GCMG Salutations to Your Majesty from a Vice President of Sightsavers, formerly Ambassador in Burma and in Ireland, and High Commissioner in India. Sightsavers is strengthened by the knowledge that you are our Patron. Thank you for your service to the nation and to 39 million blind people in the world.
Our Stories preventing river blindness Approximately 120 million people are at risk
She is hugely relieved that her children are
from river blindness and 18 million people are
not at risk from the disease now that they
infected with the disease. Of those infected
receive the treatment as well.
270,000 are already irreversibly blind. This disease is easy to prevent by
over 718 million Neglected Tropical Disease
distributing an annual dose of the drug
(NTD) treatments of which over 342 million
MectizanÂŽ (donated by Merck) and this is
were for river blindness
done through community-based volunteers. Julianah Matheul in Nigeria has eight children, the youngest of whom is six years old. Julianah used to suffer from the painful skin condition caused by the parasite but now that she takes the treatment, her symptoms have disappeared.
Photos Š Sightsavers 2015/Tom Saater
Since we were founded, we have supported
A personal message from
David Jalloh Class 5, St John’s Primary school, Sierra Leone
David Jalloh is in class 5 at St John’s Primary school in Sierra Leone. With the support of his teacher, David has written a special birthday message in Braille which is included in the pocket at the end of this book. The message reads, “Happy Birthday Your Majesty from all of us at St John’s Primary School.”
Š Sightsavers/Tiangay Gondoe
Our Stories fulfilling potential When we are not able to cure or prevent blindness, we support projects that enable adults to learn new skills, earn a living and support their families. Harriet in Uganda is benefiting from a project that teaches people who are disabled how to make goods to then sell in the market. She makes beautiful jumpers using a knitting machine.
Photo Š Sightsavers 2015/Peter Caton
Our Stories education for all Sightsavers supports special education programmes that help children who are visually impaired like Aminata to go to school and learn alongside their sighted peers. These programmes teach children how to read and write in Braille, how to get around on their own using a white cane and also help to sensitise the community about the importance of inclusion. Aminata says: ‘I want to keep going to school. I want to be a teacher when I grow up.’
Photo © Sightsavers 2015/Peter Nicholls
Highlights of
2015
raising awareness: unprecedented media profile In 2015 the MailOnline covered two stories about Sightsavers’ work in the area of inclusion of people with disabilities. This receives an online audience of around 14 million unique browsers daily. Channel 4 contacted us and asked to visit Malawi for an episode of ‘Unreported World’. A two-person team including the presenter Ade Adepitan spent two weeks there shadowing a Sightsavers-supported ophthalmic team from the Ministry of Health. They particularly focused on the difficulties patients face in paying for transportation to get to hospital. One of the patients featured was Rose, a 14 year old girl. The programme was watched by more than 800,000 people. In December, Unreported World uploaded a short video of Rose onto the Channel 4 News Facebook page. This showed Rose seeing herself in the mirror for the first time. The video went viral receiving around 10 million views. This led to an interview on BBC Radio 5 on their ‘top 40’ show for digital stories.
Photo © Sightsavers/Jo Mitchell
Our Stories since we were founded... Since we were founded, and under your inspirational Patronage, we have supported: • 140,553,107 eye examinations • 9,048,420 eye operations of which 6,370,834 were cataract operations • 718,798,058 Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) treatments of which 342,854,002 were for river blindness • The training of 197,765 people with disabilities • The training of 596,524 eye health professionals to attend short courses to further their skills • The training of 1,326,836 people to become community-based volunteers
Thank you On behalf of all Sightsavers staff within the UK and overseas, all volunteers and beneficiaries across the Commonwealth, thank you for inspiring us all Your Majesty and have a wonderful birthday.