Sightsavers Winter News 2011

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imagine receiving On a special occasion such as an anniversary, wedding or a gift that helps birthday, the Sightsavers gift list someone to gives you a great opportunity to see again! buy your friends and loved ones a fantastic present that could have a huge impact on someone else’s life.

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Hope for the children Saving sight in the Thar Desert, India

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Winter/Spring 2011

Our website is constantly updated and is full of information and inspiration.

Visit www.sightsavers.org and get the latest news from Sightsavers, discover more about the work we do around the world and find out about other ways to get involved. You can also make donations and set up Direct Debits online quickly and easily.

See for yourself at www.youtube.com/sightsaverstv – you can watch a selection of videos that Sightsavers has made over the years. TV adverts, documentaries and interviews – all offer more insight into Sightsavers and the work that we do.

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Donate by telephone 0800 089 2020

www.sightsavers.org

‘Like’ them or not, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are a great way for us to tell people who don’t know us yet about our work. Become a fan or start following us.

Not only will you stay up-to-date with all our latest news, you’ll also be helping us to raise awareness of a cause close to your heart. www.facebook.com/sightsavers www.twitter.com/sightsavers

Helping hands From begging to fishing – we’re turning lives around in Mali Plus, how we’re bridging the gap between the hospital and community in Sierra Leone

www.sightsavers.org

Fundraising is a great way to get involved, generate awareness and raise vital funds for Sightsavers.

Whatever you do, however big or small, it all counts; just g Get sellin , £17 could give someone ts n la cakes, p your their sight back with an , s ft arts & cra s… e adult cataract operation. th lo c old Join in an event or advertise your own online at www.sightsavers.org/fundraising For a fundraising pack full of inspirational ideas email events@sightsavers.org or call 01444 446710

The fun way to make a difference!

Get d sponsore g, in lk a dancing, w cling, y running, c … in b clim g

to the Winter/Spring edition of Sightsavers News. Sitting in my office putting the magazine together, it’s easy to feel far away from the people we’re helping, but these stories remind me of the amazing impact of our work. I hope after reading them, you’ll feel the same.

For families living in the desolate, sandy plains of India’s Thar Desert the lack of health care has devastating consequences.

Children are living for years with preventable diseases like cataract.

See how their lives have been transformed in our cover story – Hope for the children.

Thanks to our work, river blindness is now under control in south west Mali, but sadly the disease has already taken the sight of many people. Find out on page eight how we’re supporting them to get back on their feet.

There’s much more in this issue, including loads of ways to get involved, but I’ll let you discover it for yourself. As you’re flicking through the pages remember that your support makes our work possible – thank you.

In 2010 Josh Cara from Spratton Hall School was chosen as the national winner for upper juniors for his painting ‘Sad World’

I’d like to help each month Please accept my gift of £ a month to Sightsavers Title

What do you care about?

Schools

Sightsavers Sunday

The sixth annual Junior Painter of the Year competition is launching in February in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts. We are once again inviting pupils aged 4 to 11 from across the UK to take part. The theme is i:care and we hope to inspire children to paint what they care about.

If you are a teacher, or know someone that might be interested please visit: www.sightsavers.org/ juniorpainter or contact Gemma Roberts garoberts@sightsavers.org

Bring Sightsavers into school Sightsavers now has Schools Ambassadors to carry out talks in schools across the UK. To find out more please contact Jo Mitchell jmitchell@sightsavers.org

Are you an expert on the best restaurants or plumbers in your area?

You can now help Sightsavers just by sharing your local knowledge at TrustedPlaces, the review site from Yell.com. Every time you write a review of a local service, you earn 25 donation points, which converts to 25p for Sightsavers. www.yell.com/reviews For more information contact Hannah in the Corporate Partnerships team hbrett@sightsavers.org

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16 October A day for churches across the country to hold special services for Sightsavers.

For more information contact Jenny Marshall. jemarshall@ sightsavers.org

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Thanks to everyone who got in touch following the last issue of Sightsavers News. We had some lovely compliments, and there was widespread approval of our decision to drop down to two copies a year; although some people were still concerned about the cost of our magazine.

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We’d like to assure you that on average, for every £1 we spend on mailings like Sightsavers News each year, we receive at least £4 back in generous gifts. That’s a much better return on our investment than any high street bank would give us! Without this small investment in contacting our supporters, we would not receive the funds we need to keep the work you make possible going. We’re always very mindful of the cost of our communications, and only get in touch with you when there is a clear benefit to our overall work.

Thanks to you we were able to restore sight to over

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Instruction to your Bank or Building Society Please pay Sightsavers Direct Debits from the account detailed in this instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Sightsavers and, if so, details will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

Signature(s) Date Please return this form in the envelope provided or to: Sightsavers, FREEPOST RCC1161, HAYWARDS HEATH RH16 4BR

The Direct Debit Guarantee THIS GUARANTEE SHOULD BE DETACHED AND RETAINED BY THE PAYER This guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that accept • instructions to pay Direct Debits.

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct • Debit, Sightsavers will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account

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being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Sightsavers to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.

If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by Sightsavers or your Bank or Building Society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your Bank or Building Society – if you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Sightsavers asks you to.

You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your Bank or Building Society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

in 2009

www.sightsavers.org/fundraising

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Donate online www.sightsavers.org

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I welcome your feedback so please feel free to contact me editor@sightsavers.org

Churches

Come and get ideas for your services, and visit Sightsavers’ stand at the Christian Resource Exhibitions that are taking place in Peterborough 24 to 26 February, Sandown 10 to 13 May, and Telford 20 to 22 October.

Write for sight

Vicky Astbury, Editor Get outside y o comfort z ur o skydive, b ne ungee, abseil…

Christian Resources Exhibitions

Registered charity numbers: 207544 & SC038110

Whatever you love doing...do it for Sightsavers

Welcome

© Andy Weekes/Sightsavers

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The Khan family children help guide each other to school

Contents 2

Hope for the children

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World view

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Helping hands

New opportunities for the children of the desert

Turning lives around in Mali

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Bridging the gap

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Get involved

Behind the scenes of a Sierra Leone hospital

So many ways to support Sightsavers…

UK Headquarters Sightsavers, Grosvenor Hall, Bolnore Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 4BX Tel 01444 446600 Fax 01444 446688 Email info@sightsavers.org

© Andy Weekes/Sightsavers

News from around the globe

After attending an eyecare workshop, Mr Sahtu, who is a pastor, realised his daughter needed glasses

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Community fundraising email communityfundraising@sightsavers.org

Sightsavers’ mission To eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equal opportunities for disabled people.

Donation hotline 0800 089 2020 (24 hours) Website www.sightsavers.org Twitter twitter.com/sightsavers Sightsavers is also known as The Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind

Sightsavers Scotland 8a Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7TH Tel 0131 625 0008 Fax 0131 220 4191

This issue’s front cover Kuldeep Singh with his mother after his sight restoring operation © Andy Weekes/Sightsavers

Registered charity numbers: 207544 & SC038110

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Kuldeep Singh with his mother before the operation

Hope for the children 2

The dire need for eye health services in the impoverished desert region of Rajasthan, India, has been exposed by a recent survey. We met two families in desperate need of help.

Today is a big day for the Singh family. Their nine-month-old son, Kuldeep, who has been blind from birth, is about to undergo an operation to restore his sight.

services. Poverty and isolation, combined with extreme climatic conditions, mean that health is not prioritised here, and there is a very high level of blindness.

Cover story

We had no choice but to accept the situation

“

The Singh family live in one of the most remote villages in Bikaner, close to the border between India and Pakistan. Little Kuldeep wasn’t the only member of the family to Hari Singh be found with sight problems. Four Kuldeep’s condition was discovered during a survey run by other children including Kuldeep’s one of Sightsavers’ local partners older sister were also severely visually impaired. “We took them in north India, Urmul Seemant Samity. The aim of the survey was to see the traditional healer, but he to find all people with disabilities couldn’t help us,” said Hari Singh, head of the household and in Bikaner, one of the poorest PAKISTAN Kuldeep’s grandfather. “We had no districts of the Thar Desert, and choice but to accept the situation.” link them up with appropriate

”

India fact file Bikaner RAJASTHAN

All pictures © Andy Weekes/Sightsavers

India has a population of 1.2 billion One third of the world’s poorest people live here Kuldeep in the operating theatre

www.sightsavers.org/india

Around 15 million people are blind Last year we treated over 1.6 million people for sight related problems

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Saukat and Liakat wearing their new glasses at school

Nine-year-old Rangeel Khan has his eyes examined for the first time

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Over 300 children were identified as having sight problems during the survey of around 200 villages.

They were invited to attend a special eye camp where they could be properly assessed. All of the Singh children were identified as having cataract in both eyes. The older ones were taken to hospital in the nearby city of Dahod, and had successful surgery, supported by Sightsavers. However the doctors wanted to wait until Kuldeep was a few months older before they operated on him.

Happily, as you can see from the cover photograph, Kuldeep’s cataract operation went well.

As if life wasn’t hard enough, seven of the children were born with severe sight problems. Cut off from the world of doctors and hospitals, the family had nowhere to turn. “We were in a desperate state. Helplessly we waited for their sight to improve, but nothing happened,” said their father, Kadam Khan.

Sadly, when the children’s eyes were examined it was clear that surgery would not improve their sight. Eight-year-old Saukat, and ten-year-old Liakat were given glasses, which really helped.

But for the five younger children there was no way of enhancing their vision. However the great thing about this project is that a whole range of people are involved to offer alternative solutions. Specialist teacher,

If Sightsavers had not come here, we’d still remain in the same darkness

“

Mr Khan

After surgery he shows signs that he can see, such as looking at the doctor’s torch. “We are all celebrating,” says Kuldeep’s mother. “Five members of our family have new sight. We’d like Kuldeep to be a doctor when he grows up so that he can help restore vision and bring happiness to others.”

”

How to help Please help us support other eye care projects like this one by donating to our Vision India Appeal, which aims to raise £1 million towards providing sustainable eye care to the poorest people in India. With your help, Vision India can help more families like the Khans and the Singhs. Thank you. www.sightsavers.org/ visionindia

The children also get a guaranteed free midday meal at school, which reduces the burden on the family. “If Sightsavers had not come here, we’d still remain in the same darkness,” said their father, Mr Khan. “Now, everything has changed.”

Mr Khan with his children

Mr Sahaba Ram, was assigned to the children with the mission of helping them start school.

For the first time, all the children now attend school regularly. “I work with the teacher to make the classroom suitable for low vision children, such as writing in large print on the blackboard,” Mr Ram says.

He is also helping the five younger ones to learn Another family, the Khans, also Braille. Thanks to their attended the eye camp. During the initial survey the project team new spectacles, Saukat and Liakat are able to found all twelve members, including eight children, living in a support their siblings with their work. “My small mud dwelling miles from glasses have opened the nearest neighbour. Like the the doors to the world majority of people here, the for me,” says Saukat.

Khans are extremely poor.

www.sightsavers.org/visionindia

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WorldView

Special report

Pakistan floods

For many people with disabilities, surviving a disaster is the beginning of a greater struggle.

Sightsavers has been working with partners and coordinating with different agencies to provide help to those most in need. Mr Akhter Hussain, who is blind, was left destitute when his village was

washed away by the floods. He was found through a survey run

by Sightsavers and our partner the Human Resource Development Society (HRDS) and along with other visually impaired people was provided with basic supplies such as cash grants, food and hygiene kits.

© Sightsavers

The floods in Pakistan last year affected the lives of over 20 million people. Despite challenging conditions our partners have continued to work and provide help to those most in need. Niaz Khan, Sightsavers Country Director in Pakistan reports.

With many people left without access to clean water and living in Homes and belongings are cramped conditions such as destroyed by the flood makeshift camps, eye infections such as conjunctivitis and trachoma spread rapidly. Thanks to support from our corporate partner, Standard Chartered, the international bank, we’ve been able to provide health and

Sightsavers is not a relief organisation but we can’t isolate ourselves from realities

“

”

hygiene kits to reduce the spread of epidemics, as well as conduct eye camps in affected areas. We also received emergency funding from the Scottish Government, and the RNIB to support our projects helping those affected by the floods.

Sightsavers is not a relief organisation but we can’t isolate ourselves from realities.

© Sightsavers

Eye care workers in the flood affected Charssada district help treat and prevent eye problems

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By pulling together we have managed to reach around 40,000 people with medical treatments, provide 3,500 families with clean water and hygiene kits to prevent infection, and over 100 people with disabilities were provided with food and rehabilitation support.

© Jennifer Rule/Sightsavers

Making an impression

Alice Udagbo from Nigeria after her successful cataract surgery – hundreds of people across Africa will benefit from Comic Relief funding

Smile for sight!

We’re thrilled to announce that ‘Sight’ has been chosen as a key theme for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day 2011 fundraising extravaganza. Being part of Red Nose Day will hugely increase the profile of our work, and our three-year partnership with Comic Relief will raise vital funds for our projects in Africa. A top secret celebrity has already visited some of our sight saving work in Uganda to make some appeal films to be broadcast during the Red Nose Day 2011 Campaign, which culminates on Friday 18 March. To be chosen as a Comic Relief partner is a great testament to the quality and need for our work – so keep an eye out on our website for more news on this exciting partnership. www.sightsavers.org

In September, we decided to do something a little different in our efforts to influence the new coalition government. Three young people from Kenya who have benefited from education, thanks to support from Sightsavers, were flown to the UK – courtesy of Skywards Miles donated by members of Emirates, to attend a big parliamentary event at Westminster.

Their aim was to convince Andrew Mitchell, the Secretary of State for International Development, that the UK Government should do everything it can to ensure disabled children in the poorest countries go to school. A week later, at an important international summit on development, Andrew Mitchell congratulated our Director of International Operations, Adelaide Addo-Fening, on how great the Kenyans had been. For a very busy man, that was a clear sign that the message was getting through!

Read Lawrence’s diary about the trip www.sightsavers.org/lawrence Angeline hands over a Sightsavers briefing paper on education to Andrew Mitchell, the Secretary of State for Development

First of its kind A shortage of trained health workers is a major issue in the Caribbean region. While there is around one optometrist for every 10,000 people in the UK, the ratio is closer to one for every 100,000 in the Caribbean.

Our partners have been campaigning for the training of more skilled eye health professionals, which has resulted in the University of Guyana launching a Bachelor of Science Degree course in Optometry.

The four year course, which is receiving support from Sightsavers is the first of its kind here. It will Spread the word! go a long way to training the eye health workers Please make the most of of the future who are needed in the region’s Sightsavers News when you’ve fight against avoidable blindness. finished with it by passing it onto a friend, or dropping it into your local opticians or doctor’s surgery.

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Helping hands

All pictures© Helen Hamilton/Sightsavers

Neglected, forgotten and living in poverty – this is the reality for the majority of people who are blind in the developing world.

But a Sightsavers project in Mali shows it doesn’t have to be this way.

“I realised I was going blind on 22 November 1977,” says 60-year-old Dougou Fana Coulibaly. “I cannot forget the date. Before I went blind, I fished and farmed. When I went blind, I resorted to begging.”

Dougou’s story is all too common.

In Bamako, the capital of Mali, many people who have lost their sight can be found begging on the streets.

Dougou went blind from river blindness which was rife in the Tienfala district of Mali where he lives. Many people from the area fled for fear of losing their sight from the disease. Thanks to Sightsavers’ work there, river

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blindness is now under control and people have returned home.

But for Dougou and many others it is too late. They must find ways of living with their blindness.

Watching Dougou cast his net in the lake nearby his home, it is clear he has done just that, thanks to the help he’s received through a project run by Sightsavers’ partner, the Mali Union of the Blind.

Did you know?

80% of disabled people live in developing countries, of which 82% live below the poverty line.

Approximately 80% of disabled people are unemployed.

Just £10 can provide four white canes to give people who are blind more independence. £160 can help train a rehab worker like Bakary.

Tenein’s goats recognise her voice and follow her back to their pen also creates support committees for people with sight problems to make sure they are listened to and involved in decision making in their communities.

“Before we came here”, says Bakary, “people thought that it wasn’t possible for a visually impaired person to be independent. Now, everyone understands that they can find their own way.”

“I was given a goat and shown how to look after it,” Dougou tells us. “With the money I made when I sold it, I bought myself a net. I was Tenein taught how to get around by using her myself, and how to get from my handmill house to the lake. You don’t need to be able to see to fish, if you have the right technique, you can do it. I sell the fish I catch at the market to buy things for my family.

I knew how to fish before going blind, so now I continue to do it.”

People who are blind can find their own way

“

”

Project Rehabilitation Kati spans 46 villages in south west Mali. Its aim is to teach people who are visually impaired mobility skills, and provide training to enable them to earn a living. The project

Bakary Coulibaly is one of six rehabilitation workers for the Mali Union of the Blind. He works closely with Dougou and other visually impaired people to provide tailored support. He taught 64-year-old Tenein Doubmia how to use a white cane, which helps her look after her goats – also given as part of the project. A specially adapted handmill enables her to charge other women in the area to grind their millet.

www.sightsavers.org/mali

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Imagine not being able to help somebody you love because you can’t get to the hospital. In Africa, less than a third of people with eye problems have access to the help that they need. Here’s how we’re bridging the gap in Sierra Leone.

Bridging the Ernest Challey is a cataract surgeon who works for our partners at the Connaught Hospital in the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown.

Twice a month he travels with other eye care staff to a small rural health centre and sets up an outreach eye clinic there for the day. Word is spread about the clinic through announcements made in local mosques and churches. Conditions at the health centre are very cramped and equipment basic, yet in a typical day Ernest and his staff can see between 200 and 300 patients.

People with urgent eye problems such as cataract and glaucoma are referred to the hospital for further treatment, for which transport is arranged.

Community members such as teachers and pastors are invited to attend eye care training days run by our partners at the hospital so that they can pass on their knowledge to others. Teacher Miss Mim Jouinsa attended one of these training sessions. “We learnt about cataract, refractive error and the structure of the eye – many different things,” she tells us. “I am now able to test pupils’ sight by using the eye charts that they gave us. A girl in my class was having problems reading the board. I contacted her parents and told them to take her to the eye clinic. She was diagnosed with cataract in both eyes and underwent an operation – she is now excelling in her work.”

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In focus Emerica King Many minor eye conditions can be treated immediately at the outreach clinic.

14-year-old Memunatu Kamara has been having difficulty seeing out of one eye. Her sight is tested using a tumbling E chart, which is useful for patients who are illiterate or too young to read.

She uses her hands to state which way each E is pointing.

Memunatu is identified as having a very common eye infection called conjunctivitis.

She is given antibiotic ointment which will soon clear up the problem.

Repeated conjunctivitis infections can lead to trachoma and loss of sight, so early diagnosis and treatment is essential.

“Transportation problems, lack of education about eye care, and fear of having to pay for services mean that many people here simply live with sight problems,” says Emerica King, Programme Manager for Sightsavers in Sierra Leone.

“Our partners at the Department of Ophthalmology at Connaught Hospital go to great lengths to ensure people get the eye services they need.

Radio and television are used to spread the word about eye care, staff conduct regular outreach sessions, and run eye health training days at the hospital for teachers and other community members.

Funding from Sightsavers has enabled our partners to treat an increasing number of people – last year over 30,000 patients had their eyes examined. However, our eye care programme in western Sierra Leone covers an area of more than one and a half million people. We urgently need to train more eye care personnel, and buy more drugs, equipment and vehicles for our outreach work in order to reach everyone.”

If you’d like to find out more about our work in Sierra Leone, or to make a donation, please go to: www.sightsavers.org/ sierraleone

www.sightsavers.org/sierraleone

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All pictures © Andy Weekes/Sightsavers

gap

In 2010, over 30,000 patients had their eyes examined at the hospital

Get involved!

Whatever you love doing… do it for Sightsavers Blenheim Palace Walk

Events

27 March Take steps to change lives and join us for this year’s sponsored walk among the daffodils in the beautiful grounds of Blenheim Palace. Last year, the walk raised over £9,800 for Sightsavers – let’s see if we can do even better in 2011. Sign up online: www.sightsavers.org/blenheim

You don’t have to be a star athlete to fundraise.

You could hold a plant sale, quiz or coffee morning.

For more information visit www.sightsavers.org/ fundraising

Run for Sight In 2011 we have running places in the following events - BUPA 10,000, ASICS 10K and the Great South run. For more information please contact the events team – events@sightsavers.org

© Blenheim palace

Debbie and John Ramsay ran the Asics 10k for Sightsavers in 2010 and raised a fantastic £1,061

Rob Roy Challenge

© Martin Currie / Sightsavers

It all adds up!

18 June Take part in one of Scotland’s most successful fundraising events. Covering 55 miles of the spectacular Rob Roy Way, teams walk and cycle through breathtaking scenery raising money for Sightsavers before celebrating with a fabulous feast and party! For more information please email: scotland@sightsavers.info or visit www.sightsavers.org/robroychallenge

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