Operation Eyesight tackles the root causes of vision loss
For years, Hayat, an 11-year-old first-grade student from Ethiopia, could not see clearly at a distance. In grade one, she struggled in school and her parents feared for her education. When Partners in Education Ethiopia, collaborating with Operation Eyesight, visited her school, she received an eye exam, a diagnosis of refractive error and prescription eyeglasses. Now she is working on her studies and has hope for her education. Hayat is one of 288,198 students Operation Eyesight and its partners screened in 2024, and one of 2,869 students who received eyeglasses.OPERATION EYESIGHT
Every dollar counts in the battle against avoidable blindness
Founded in Calgary more than 60 years ago with just $840 in funding, today Operation Eyesight is a global leader in international development and affordable eye health care – and every dollar still counts – now more than ever.
“It’s really important that people understand the impact of their dollar and how it supports the sight-saving work that we do,” says Myrna Linder, Operation Eyesight’s director of fund development.
“Eyecare is more than just vision, it’s more than just seeing. We’re looking at the root causes of vision loss that are connected to poverty, education, good health and well-being, gender equality and clean water and sanitation,” says Ms. Linder.
“There are 1.1 billion people around the world living with vision loss, and what’s unfortunate is that 90 per cent of all vision loss is preventable and treatable,” she adds.
While vision loss impacts people of all ages, many only require an eye exam and prescription glasses at a cost of $20 to enable them to unlock opportunities in education and employment and to become independent. For others it may mean access to cataract surgery or treatment for trachoma (a blinding eye disease).
Operation Eyesight’s goal is to create avoidable blindness-free villages in the 10 countries in Africa and South Asia where the organization works with communities, hospitals and governments to prevent blindness and restore sight.
“We have a secret sauce,” says Ms. Linder. “We work in a unique way. Our goal is to build sustainable solutions for communities.
“This involves our teams on the ground visiting villages, training community health workers to do eye and health screening, and ensuring there are facilities where people can be referred. This creates a ripple effect in the demand and supply of eye health care,” she says.
“If these facilities don’t exist, we create them with donor funding and train in-country experts,” says Ms. Linder. “We’re there for the long haul. We make a lasting difference in a community before we move on to the next community.”
“At Operation Eyesight we value all donations, from individual gifts that can fund a cataract surgery ($75) to major donors and institutional giving that can support training and help build infrastructure,” she adds.
“We have a really good retention rate for donors, but we need new donors, we need to expand our donor base,” she says. “We’re always looking at options: how to make giving easier for individuals and really making sure that our donors know that every dollar counts.”
Learn more: operationeyesight.com/give
Advertising feature produced by Randall Anthony Communications with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Canada. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.
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