JOHN FAWCETT FOUNDATION
Annual Report 2019
Chairmen’s Reports JOHN FAWCETT FOUNDATION (AUSTRALIA)
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n 2019 we exceeded our own expectations with the funds received and the outcomes we achieved. Our existing donors continued their generous support, and we were fortunate to receive support from many new donors. We are continually surprised by the dollar volume, and range of reasons that accompany the donations. The donations are mainly from Australia, but there are more and more receipts from Indonesian sources and from our British supporters. All are most welcome, and we spare no effort in acknowledging them with grateful thanks from us and in particular from the underprivileged people of Indonesia. In Australia raising funds remains our major objective for all facets of our work and, while we have been successful, we also are always conscious of the need for our activities to be cost effective.
Our overall expenses cover a variety of items, including salaries for our hardworking Balinese staff, provision and maintenance of adequate levels of medical supplies and equipment, maintaining our fleet of vehicles in good condition, utility costs, insurances, cleaning products and general maintenance requirements. Upskilling our staff is a very important part of our activities, and we are fortunate to have the volunteer services of medical specialists, nurses and technicians to assist with this work. Our core activity is to provide eye care. This includes cataract removal and lens replacement for blind adults, a relatively simple 20-minute operation, and cataract removal and lens replacement for blind children, a more complicated procedure that requires a general anaesthetic. To find the patients we travel across the archipelago and in so doing find thousands of people with less serious eye problems that can be alleviated with eye drops and in many cases the provision of glasses. This is all provided free of charge. A life-changing ancillary function is the making and supply of prosthetic eyes for the unfortunate people who have only one eye due to a birth defect or have lost an eye as a result of an accident. The difference the provision of a prosthetic eye can make to a person’s self-confidence and future life prospects is significant.
WINSTON JONES, OAM
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Another important activity is the provision of cleft lip and palate operations to young children born with a facial deformity. This free service is provided in a hospital in Denpasar by a skilled local surgeon who has been trained in this speciality by volunteer Australian medical specialists. To see the look in the eyes of parents when they see their ‘repaired’ child is truly something to behold. These same volunteer specialists also conduct surgical training sessions where patients who have been seriously burned and suffer quite horrific scarring and contractions that significantly limit their mobility are treated. The Foundation’s medical work is carried out by skilled doctors supported by JFF’s experienced nurses and technicians. They are a dedicated and proud group of people. I wish that I could name them all, but you will see evidence of their work in the pages of this 2019 Annual Report. We are eternally grateful to our wonderful donors and supporters They are our lifeblood. The thousands of people that we have assisted would surely like to join me in that sentiment. Our Founder, John Fawcett, continues to look over us and retains a strong influence over the way that we carry out the work that he commenced.
