Sponsor part cost of a cataract surgery by Sankara Eye Foundation India

Sponsor part cost of a cataract surgery

Impact

You can help someone like Shinderpal see again!

Shinderpal is a 45-year-old woman from Ludhiana. She is a single parent to two children. She was a teacher but did not earn much.

After a difficult pregnancy, she could no longer move without a wheelchair and stopped working. Their family lost all financial security. Her son who was in Class 10 started working at a part-time job to bring in some money.

When Shinderpal started having trouble seeing clearly, she ignored it. Their family was already struggling to make ends meet and she did not think of checking her blurred vision as a priority. This went on for five years until someone referred her to a free eye testing camp.

The doctors there found out that she had a cataract problem. She needed surgery but could not afford it.

Sankara Eye Foundation offered to cover the cost of her surgery. and she was able to get the surgery done successfully.. She can now see clearly and has a renewed outlook on life. She even found the strength to go back to work. She wants to do everything possible to help secure a good future for her children.

Your donation could give someone like Shinderpal a new and hopeful perspective on life! Donate now to help poor people get the treatment they need to restore their sight. You can give with confidence because every program on our platform is GIVEASSURED.

READ MORE
Giveassured

By donating to this program

You will be sponsoring the benefits for different beneficiaries every month


About The Program

What the beneficiary gets
Transport
Surgery
Healthcare
Eye Care
What you get
Tax Exemption
Periodic Reports
Program Description

While cataract can be treated with a simple surgery. evidence suggests that lack of money is a major barrier to uptake of cataract surgery among the poor. 60% of the poor who are affected by cataract turn blind due to financial constraints. Poverty deprives them of access to healthcare and bad health deprives them of an income.

Sankara Eye Foundation attempts to provide free adult cataract surgeries. The revenue generated from the NGO's paying section partially subsidizes the community eye care services and the rest is covered through donations. This program runs in rural areas of Punjab. Majority of the patients in this program are underprivileged adults who come from rural areas about 250 km away from the hospital.

The program provides them with free surgery, spectacles, stay, food and transport to the villages.Support this program to sponsor a cataract surgery and save a patient from going blind forever.

... Read more

About The NGO

Sankara Eye Foundation India
Sankara Eye Foundation India Logo
Sankara Eye Foundation India

The Mantra behind Shankara is 'Thamasoma Jyothir Gamaya '- Lead us from darkness to Light

Sankara Eye Foundation is a US-based non-profit organization that works toward eliminating curable blindness in India. Sankara brings quality timely eye care to the doorsteps of rural India through its award-winning Gift of Vision rural outreach program.

Equipped with most modern facilities & knowledgeable dedicated specialists and highly motivated staff, the SEF is committed to clinical excellence, personalized patient care, and best eye care services at all times to all our patients.One of the unique features of the Sankara Eye Hospitals is the self-sustainability model. The hospitals work on 80:20 model where 20% of the paid surgeries fund 80% of the free surgeries. This model ensures that hospitals fund themselves once the self-sufficiency is reached.

Today, Sankara is the largest free eye care provider in the world and has performed over 1.5 million free eye surgeries. SEF's mission is to realize the goal of "Vision 20/20 by the year 2020." - perform 1 million free eye surgeries annually by the year 2010.

... Read more
founders
Founded in 1991
NGO Leadership

R.V. Ramani

areas of operation
Area of Operation
Area of Operation

Cataract | health

location of work
Location of Work
Location of Work

Tamil Nadu

Sankara Eye Foundation India has

performed 1,41,366 cataract surgeries on poor senior citizens

awards
Awards And Recognitions
Awards And Recognitions

2017: Guide Star India Gold status

2016: Leader in Volunteer Engagement

2016: 2nd Highest I-pledger male

2016: Rehabilitation Work for Gujarat Earthquake

last audited
Last Audited
Periodic Compliance Checks by GiveIndia

Renewals FY 19-20

reporting
Verification Visit Reports
Verification Visit Reports

Verification Report 1

Program Updates

Program Updates

22 September, 2023

An update on the program you are supporting

#8

report image


Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months

292 Cataract Surgeries were carried out


Challenges faced and next steps

An update from this program has not been made available by the nonprofit. We hope to hear more about their work in the coming months.


Stories from the ground

�I have no idea and no hope on my eyes and I thought it is my end of life but Sankara gave back my life with full confidence� says Chennamma aged 60 from Thalakallu Mahajanadahalli Village. She is a single women and running a small Tea shop in that village for her livelihood. With very minimal income and govt. pension she was running her life. She started facing issues in her eyes. At one point of time she closed her Tea shop. Luckily she heard an auto announcement from Sankara Eye Hospital on Free Eye Camp. Chennamma was taken to base hospital at Bangalore. She underwent pterygium excision + conjunctival autograft specialty surgery in her left eye. After 2 days she got discharged and dropped back in her village. She was so happy on getting her vision back and high quality treatment at no cost. Now she opened her Tea Shop back with full confidence and started earning for her livelihood.


5 December, 2022

Sponsor part cost of a cataract surgery

#7

report image


Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months

The year 2022 marks the important milestone of Sankara Eye Foundation India, reaching 2.1 million free eye surgeries. Sankara has become the largest community eye care network in the world with 12 hospitals across India providing Preventive, Curative and Rehabilitative programs. "When service mindedness is pitted against a seemingly impossible dream, it awakens possibilities and reveals new horizons" with our donors support "Lead us from Darkness to Light" was possible.

During the period of Jan 2022 - June 2022 Giveindia donations have been utilized for vision restoring cataract surgeries in the state of Punjab covering 6 districts in total.

Through Punjab Sankara Eye Hospitals Gift of Vision was provided to 4861 poor patients. Most of the beneficiaries are daily wage labors, who are also breadwinners of the family and were not able to continue their work due to poor vision. The vision restoring cataract surgery has enabled and empowered their lives and provided a new life to them.


Challenges faced and next steps

The incidence of Cataract and the huge backlog due to the Covid years has impacted millions in rural India. Diabetes has also gone up considerably, even in the villages. Sankara Eye Foundation has conducted lot of micro camps at village level which has increased the cataract surgical coverage.


Stories from the ground

“I have no worries in the world, as I have my Tractor and my eye sight back”, says Mr. Babulal. He might be pushing 70, but he believes in holding his head high, as he continues to be a bread winner for his family.

His strong spirit was shaken as his vision blurred one day while he was driving his tractor. Fear of going blind cracked his confidence – only temporarily, till he found Sankara.

“Today my tractor doesn’t run on just petrol. It runs on the confidence given by the Sankara Doctors. My vision is back and so is my confidence”, says Mr. Babulal.


23 May, 2022

Sponsor part cost of a cataract surgery

#6

report image


Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months

Despite the Covid Situations, Sankara was able to reach out to thousands of people and provided a vision for their life. From April 2021 to Dec 2021 we were able to conduct 954 Gift of Vision outreach camps. Through our camps, we have screened over 1,36,644 rural patients. We have performed 65,091 Vision Restoring Cataract Surgeries.

We have covered over 82 Districts Pan India through our 12 Sankara Eye Hospitals present across India.


Challenges faced and next steps

Initially, we faced issues in getting the permissions from District Administration. Due to the Covid situation, we were not able to proceed with our community outreach camps. However, as a workaround, we enabled a direct walk-in mode in our hospitals so that the patients who needed critical eye care were treated completely free of cost with all covid precautions.

Once the situation was under control we got the permissions and we started our outreach camps. In the next 6 months, we are planning to cover over 1,50,000 beneficiaries pan India.


Stories from the ground

Master Craftsman Led Towards Light and a New Lease of Life:

75-year-old Mujamir Khan, from Ludhiana, Punjab, had serious vision problems in both eyes. Being a craftsman, his work demanded proper vision, but his vision was failing day by day. There was a stage when he couldn’t see things clearly and felt forced to quit work. His livelihood was at stake. This broke the confidence and stability of Mujamir Khan’s family. Being the only breadwinner, he feared the future. He couldn’t afford eye surgery at a private hospital and wished desperately for a miracle. Luckily, he heard about SEFI’s free camp organized near his village. He was diagnosed with a mature cataract in both eyes. He was operated on for free and regained vision in his right eye at SEH-Kanpur and will soon be operated on in the left eye too. Today, Mujamir Khan is filled with high spirits and is back at work chiselling his future with renewed hope.


28 November, 2021

Sponsor part cost of a cataract surgery

#5

report image


Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months

The year 2020 marks the important milestone of Sankara Eye Foundation India, reaching 2 million free eye surgeries. Sankara has become the largest community eye care network in the world with 12 hospitals across India providing Preventive, Curative and Rehabilitative programs. "When service mindedness is pitted against a seemingly impossible dream, it awakens possibilities and reveals new horizons" with our donors support "Lead us from Darkness to Light" was possible. Between Jan 2021 and June 2021 GiveIndia donations have been utilized for vision restoring cataract surgeries in the state of Karnataka and Punjab covering 10 districts in total. Through our 12 Sankara Eye Hospitals we have provided Gift of Vision to 29,066 patients pan India. Most of the beneficiaries are daily wage labourers also breadwinners of the family was not able to continue their work due to poor vision. The vision restoring cataract surgery has enabled and empowered their lives and provided a new life to them


Challenges faced and next steps

The covid-19 pandemic has hit very hard globally. In India due to various Covid restrictions by Govt. of India, permissions for Community Outreach Camps got withheld. Transporting the patients, E-Pass & Covid Test for patients was a very big challenge to us. A lot of patients were in critical need of eye care. As a workaround measure, we enabled direct walk-ins to our Sankara Eye Hospitals. With the support of local well-wishers, we identified the patients who are in critical need of eye care and got special permissions from local authorities to treat them on priority. We have provided critical eye care to 29,066 patients pan India from Jan 2021 - June 2021. Till now we are facing hurdles in getting permissions from Govt. but still we have planned to provide eye care to 46,380 patients from July to December 2021.


Stories from the ground

“I have no worries in the world, as I have my Tractor and my eyesight back”, says Mr Pritam Singh. He might be pushing 66, but he believes in holding his head high, as he continues to be a breadwinner for his family.His strong spirit was shaken as his vision blurred one day while he was driving his tractor. Fear of going blind cracked his confidence – only temporarily, till he found Sankara. “Today my tractor doesn’t run on just petrol. It runs on the confidence given by the Sankara Doctors. My vision is back and so is my confidence”, says Mr Pritam Singh.


5 August, 2020

Eye Care - Reaching the Un-reached

#4

report imagereport image


Eye Care - Reaching the Un-reached




India’s leading community eye care provider, Sankara Eye Foundation India, SEFI, was established in Coimbatore in the year 1977. Our vision being eradication of preventable and curable blindness across India, we aim to provide quality eye care to all, irrespective of socio-economic, religious, linguistic and geographical backgrounds.
The program provides them with free surgery, spectacles, stay, food and transport to the villages.Support this program to sponsor a cataract surgery and save a patient from going blind forever.
Sankara’s unique community outreach program, Gift of Vision, brings quality and timely eye care to the doorsteps of rural India. With Rainbow, our paediatric outreach program, we reach to children aiming to banish eye problems in time, ensuring they have a clear and bright future. Sankara is involved in various other aspects of eye care like Tele Ophthalmology through Vision Centres.
Several studies from India have reported poor utilization of existing eye care facilities and several studies have identified availability, accessibility and affordability as major barriers.
Historically such challenges have been tackled through either an outreach camp approach. Ever year Sankara used to perform 1.5 lakh free eye surgeries through GOV program across India. Currently we have outreach operations in 8 states of India.



3 December, 2019

Care and support being provided

#3

report imagereport imagereport imagereport imagereport image


Care and support being provided








22 July, 2019

#2


Program Update


Gift of Vision - Outreach Camps - Our Outreach camps acts a bridge between our organization and community. All our camps will be organized in the villages at a common place like schools would be easy access for all community of the village. Before the camps we used to do auto publicity in the local language announcing about the eye camp and its importance along with notice distribution. We also do door to door survey in the households of the village. During the day of camp the crowd will be addressed by our VHV explaining about the importance of eye care and its impact. Most of the audience would be Old people. We have supported more than 1 lakh people under this program in the last FY


Sankara Eye Foundation India is honoured to share that Dr. R. V. Ramani, the Founder and Managing Trustee, has been awarded the prestigious “Padma Shri” from the Government of India in recognition of his work in the field of medical services.
Sankara Eye Hospitals work on an 80:20 ratio, providing world class eye care with a social impact. 80 % of the beneficiaries are the underprivileged who receive completely free services, while the remaining 20% are the patients who can afford to pay for their treatment, thereby cross-subsidising and enabling the hospital to be self-sustaining.


Sankara Eye Hospitals have so far performed 1.8 million absolutely free eye surgeries, positively impacting beneficiaries’ health and livelihood. The rural outreach eye care programme, Gift of Vision, was initiated in 1990 along with Rotary Coimbatore Central and serves the rural population in 92 districts across 7 states in India. Gift of Vision has so far conducted over 26138 rural outreach camps, screened 4.8 million people and performed over 1.8 million free vision restoration surgeries. Rainbow, a preventive eye care programme for children started in the year 1996, has screened over 6 million school children for undetected visual defects and provided care – everything from spectacles to surgery – wherever required.


Story from the field


Mrs. Aachuki devi is a housewife. She is 75 years old and hails from Govind Garh, Jaipur.
She was taking care of her old aged husband also taking care of her grandchildren was leading a peaceful life. She takes care of all household works without trouble. Trouble free life was not long lasting for Mrs Aachuki Devi.
Since last 2 years she was facing difficulty in her vision. She could not see the things properly later it become severe her vision become very bad. She could not do her household works properly and people started blaming her. She was not even aware that she got cataract which is blocking her vision which should be operated.
During a household survey Sankara’s Visual Health Visitor visited her home and found that she was affected by mature cataract and explained her about Sankara’s services to Aachuki’s family members. Accompanied by her daughter in law she visited Sankara Eye Hospital, Jaipur - Govind Garh Camp she was advised for cataract surgery. Initially she was scared of surgery, later she was given counselling by doctor at the camp site she accepted to have cataract surgery. At the base hospital she underwent cataract surgery and got her vision back. Now she is back into action and not dependent on anyone.
She was so happy and said it was a miracle with a big smile.


What is the expected total number of beneficiaries in this program for FY18-19?172000
What is the number of beneficiaries/ benefits provided in this program, Year-To-Date154000
Village/City/State where project is locatedTamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab
Total Budget for the project for FY18-19860000000
Total Expenses for the project YTD770000000

23 May, 2019

#1

report image



Program Update


Established in the year 1977, Sankara Eye Foundation India, (SEFI) has a long proven track record of service to the needy in the field of Community Eye Care – “High quality, cost effective, readily available eye care at the door steps of Rural India”.


Sankara Eye Foundation India launched its “GIFT OF VISION – Rural Outreach Eye Care program” in 1990. Since it's inception, Gift of Vision has served over 4.7 million rural population covering 14,400 villages from 93 districts PAN India.


Presently Sankara Eye Foundation India, as a group, is able to perform over 500 free eye surgeries every day, through Gift of Vision program. We have provided free surgical eye care to over 1.8 million needy patients so far.


Presently Gift of Vision program is performing over 500 free eye surgeries a day across the country.


Story from the field


60 years old Gurcharan Kaur lives with her son and daughte-in-law in Nizamdin, Ferozepur. She is a widow. Her son works as a Labourer in brick factory. He is the only working member in the family.


From past two years she was not able to see properly. She used to get hurt while walking as things were not clear to her. She always takes help of her daughter in law to complete her daily chores. Her life was becoming very difficult as she was totally dependent on others. She had almost lost hope that she will be able to see things clearly.


One day she was sitting outside her house when a Vision Health Visitor from Sankara Eye Hospital saw her. He talked to her requested her to attend the nearby camp organised in their village Gurudwara. She was given a card to bring to the camp.


She reached the camp venue along with her son. The doctor examined her eyes and told her that she is having cataract in her right eye. She was brought to the hospital and surgery was performed successfully.


Post-surgery, she was very happy, and now she is identifying colours as well as people. She thanked almighty and all the staff of the hospital for restoring her vision back without spending a single penny.


What is the number of beneficiaries/ benefits provided in this program, Year-To-Date2.42 Lakhs (Until Nov 2018)
Village/City/State where project is locatedTamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab & Rajasthan
Total Budget for the project for FY18-19For Internal consumption only
Total Expenses for the project YTDFor Internal consumption only

Related Programs
help-a-poor-patient-fight-cancer
Help a poor patient fight cancer by Charutar Arogya Mandal
19.96 per month
help-sick-and-destitute-adults-live-with-dignity
Help sick and destitute adults live with dignity by Sapna
3.58 per month
help-mentally-ill-patients-get-access-to-healthcare
Help mentally ill patients get access to healthcare by The Banyan
3.6 per month