Seva Canada: A Solution in Sight

Cataract scare opened Burnaby woman’s eyes to world

Burnaby woman, 28, realized how lucky she was to have access to good treatment

By Elaine O’Connor, The Province January 21, 2010

After a series of medical treatments, Burnaby’s Karin DuBois was shocked to be diagnosed with cataracts.

She was only in her 20s.

Thankfully, doctors assured her that the risk of losing her sight was small.

“They told me it’s such a simple surgery and that the chances of success are so high that it’s not even a concern — the chances of me going blind are very slim,” the 28-year-old recalled.

That’s far from the case for millions in the developing world.

Ninety per cent of the world’s 45 million blind live in impoverished countries; two-thirds are female.

Most of these cases are preventable. The most common cause of blindness is cataracts, which could be removed with a simple 15-minute, $50 surgery. But women and girls are only half as likely as men to get treated.

That’s one of the surprising statistics DuBois learned while creating an awareness video recently for SEVA Canada.

The Vancouver-based registered charity funds eye-care clinics and trains doctors to perform cataract surgeries in seven developing countries: Tanzania, India, Guatemala, Cambodia, Nepal and Tibet.

DuBois’ video earned her second place in SEVA’s national Her Sight Is Worth It video contest. The winners were announced Wednesday.

The B.C. Institute of Technology grad and Global B.C. assistant director said she wanted to create the video as a way of giving back.

“I’m lucky enough to live in Canada, where medical access is available. If I was in India or elsewhere, my chances of being permanently blind would be so much greater,” she said.

First-place winner Derick Groves of Victoria admitted he had little knowledge of the issue before entering the contest.

“It’s one of the things you don’t really think about,” said the 33-year-old film-school grad.

“It is a little surprising to see the percentage of women that make up the total number of blind and how little care they get.”

Third place went to Ontario-native Rhonda Kara Hanah, who temporarily lost sight in one eye after contracting an infection in Mexico.

SEVA launched the contest last fall, calling on Canadians 13 and older to submit three-minute movies about blindness in women and girls in the developing world.

The contest, sponsored by GAP Adventures and the Planterra Foundation, came with a unique reward: The group is restoring the sight of one woman and girl in the names of each of the three winners.

Penny Lyons, SEVA Canada’s executive director, said the entries served to highlight the “direct link between poverty and blindness.”

“As soon as you restore someone’s sight,” Lyons explained, “they can go to school or work, so by treating blindness in women, you are reducing poverty effectively and inexpensively, especially as it’s been very clearly documented that women are the key to sustainability in their families, communities and nations.”

The films, online at www.seva.ca/contest.htm, will be screened in 12 Canadian cities as part of the World Community Film Festival, which comes to Vancouver on Jan. 31.

eoconnor@theprovince.com
© Copyright (c) The Province

The story of Tsultrim Dorje
by Dolma Chugi, Seva Tibet Staff

“I asked the doctors to take my eyes out and exchange them with Tsultrim’s many times, but they kept telling me that such a medical technology wasn’t invented,” confessed Tsultrim’s grandmother. She would gladly have given her precious sight to her grandson and spared his parents, his aunt and herself the many tears they have cried in the past three years. She is pictured here on the far right with Tsultrim and his aunt. Worrying about his eye health has aged her beyond her 68 years.

Tsultrim lives mostly with his grandmother and his aunt because his parents work long hours. They only have time to be with him occasionally on weekends and during their holidays. His mother works as a bathroom cleaner at a hotel and his father is a porter. Together they earn only US $192 a month and that has to feed and support Tsultrim, his grandmother, his aunt and themselves.

For three years, Tsultrim’s father lived with the nightmare that Tsultrim’s blindness wouldn’t be treated and that he wouldn’t be able to go to school like all the other children. He shared his fears with me and, after rolling his eyes for a few seconds, he said “You know, nowadays, no schooling means no academic degree, and no degree means no life!” His voice trembling, he continued, “Tsultrim is my only child. The devastation of his life is the tragedy of my life!”

Tsultrim had his first surgery on one eye when he was only four months old. Ever since, he has been terrified of hospitals and doctors. His most recent surgeries were performed by Dr. Judy Newman, a pediatric ophthalmologist and volunteer from the USA. Dr. Newman has been a pioneer of pediatric eye programs for Seva in Tibet. She remembers Tsultrim very well because he cried the loudest and hardest throughout every visit, from registration all the way through examination, vision-checking, eye drops and surgery. He even cried during follow-up visits.

Cataract management for children is more complicated than for adults and, as a result,
Tsultrim has already undergone three surgeries. Intraocular lens implants are not recommended until the age of nine when ophthalmic nerves are better developed.  Now, at last, after all the crying and struggles, his sight has been restored and he can wear aphakic glasses – glasses that work to replace the eye’s natural lens. He can behave like a normal child!

One sunny Sunday morning three months after Tsultrim’s surgery, I was strolling in the Naga Park behind the Potala Palace and unexpectedly met Tsultrim and his aunt. Tsultrim was running energetically around the pathways. His aunt was thrilled to tell me that Tsultrim had been admitted to kindergarten in the fall. Tsultrim never stopped running around during our whole conversation.

On Tuesday, I visited Tsultrim in his kindergarten. It was almost lunch time. All the kids had just packed up their text books and cleared their desks to get ready for lunch. They would eat together and then nap together in a dorm. Tsultrim, however, was waiting for his aunt to pick him up and take him home for his lunch and nap. I felt sorry he couldn’t stay with his classmates but his aunt explained that tuition at kindergarten costs US $176 each year and is double if Tsultrim stays at school for his lunch and nap. This extra cost would be a huge burden to the family because of their meager income. Nevertheless, being able to go to school and get an education – just like all the other children – counts more than anything else to Tsultrim and his family!

The team at Seva Nepal are brilliant! Kandel, Parami and Shravan work tirelessly to bring eye care to the very poor, those in remote areas, women and children. They are models of compassion in action.

Here’s a series of photos that Parami sent us from an eye camp that took place in Terathum, Nepal this autumn. It illustrates the tremendous burden (literally) that cataract blindness places on families and communities.

This woman was one of 5 patients who were carried on the backs of their relatives to the Seva-supported eye camp. Some patients walked two full days to seek care.

Here are the happy results of this camp: A total of 564 patients were examined in the three-day eye camp and 67 surgeries were performed, of which 54 were sight-restoring cataract surgeries (31 female & 23 male) and 13 (female 7 & 6 male) were other surgeries like pterigium, chalazion & entropion surgeries*. A total of eight bilateral blind patients underwent surgery.

Our deepest thanks to the team and to our wonderful Seva donors who made this possible. And thank you to Parami, Shravan and Kandel at Seva Nepal for sharing this heartwarming story with us.

To give the gift of sight, visit www.seva.ca.

Definitions:

What is pterigium?:  A pterygium is fleshy tissue that grows in a triangular shape over the cornea (the transparent part or front window of the eyeball). It may grow large enough to interfere with vision.

What is chalazion?: A chalazion  is a cyst in the eyelid that is caused by inflammation of a blocked meibomian gland, usually on the upper eyelid. Chalazions differ from styes in that they are more painful than styes, as well as bigger in size. A chalazion could take months to fully heal with treatment and could take years to heal without any.

What is entropion?: Entropion is a medical condition in which the eyelids fold inward. It is very uncomfortable, as the eyelashes rub against the cornea constantly. Entropion is usually caused by genetic factors and may be congenital. Trachoma infection may cause scarring of the inner eyelid, which may cause entropion. Treatment is a simple surgery in which excess skin of the outer lids is removed. Prognosis is excellent if surgery is performed before the cornea is damaged.

By Penny Lyons, Executive Director, Seva Canada
November 16, 2009

Madagascar, where do I even start? Stunningly beautiful, heartbreakingly poor, rich in culture, language and traditions and complex in its politics.

I travelled here from Tanzania with Dr. Paul Courtright, co-director of the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology (KCCO) based in Moshi, Tanzania. KCCO has been working with Madagascar eye care programs since 2007 – at first helping create national eye care programs and now also funding training, outreach programs and a pediatric program.

Our task here is to follow up and expand on the work that KCCO has done, as well as evaluate the programs that have been funded by Seva donors. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has funded outreach in the Vakinankaratra region, as has the May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust.

Each of these two organizations have helped fund the creation and implementation of community outreach programs in this populous region in the highlands of Madagascar centered around the city of Antsirabe, just 3 hours drive south of the capital city of Antananarivo. In addition, Alcon Canada generously donated an enormous amount of ophthalmological supplies, including intraocular lenses.

Seva programs that I have visited previously have all been well established. National blindness plans were in place, outreach was active and well organized, a comprehensive training program was in place and all programs were working toward both financial sustainability and ensuring services were available to the most vulnerable – particularly children and women.

It has been both enlightening and rewarding to witness the birth of a new program here in Madagascar and to fully comprehend the partnerships at all levels of government, healthcare and community that have to be created in order for eye care programs to succeed. In fact, given the complexities, it is a wonder it happens at all. But here in Madagascar, as in our other programs, there are individuals, hospitals and local governments that have dedicated themselves to making it happen and are committed not only to creating eye care programs but are also committed to creating excellent ones.

Today I visited an outreach program in Mendoto, a small centre about 150km west of Antsirabe. When the team from Fitsaboana Hospital in Antsirabe arrived at about 8am, there were over 300 people in the courtyard of the local hospital. We assumed they were patients waiting to be seen at ALL the hospital departments, but as we started to set up we realized they were all there to have their eyes screened and treated.

The team quickly organized the room we were given. A visual acuity chart and registration desk was set up; there were 2 examination areas for the ophthalmologists; the counselors, who provide information to those requiring more care like cataract surgery or low-vision services, had a small table; and a makeshift pharmacy was created. Patients were divided into two lines, one for children and one for adults, and each ophthalmologist took one line. Periodically someone was sent to scout the lines to make sure those who required the most complex care or who were very elderly were brought to the front of the line.

It was hot, both outside and inside the makeshift clinic. No one complained and no one took a break. Bottles of water were brought to the team, but they barely stopped to take a drink. Everyone knew how many patients were waiting and how far they might have travelled to get there. They could drink later.

In the first two hours, 4 children were diagnosed with congenital or developmental cataract in both eyes and appointments for surgery were made.  Many more children were seen but who could not be helped – children blind because of damage to their corneas – many of whose sight could have been restored if they lived in a developed country. Children with birth defects or severe low vision were referred to the counselors so their families could learn where to find help. Twenty-four adults were scheduled for cataract surgery and, once again, there were many more who simply could not be helped.

The ophthalmologists were unbelievably kind and gentle with all who came and, even after very long waits in the brutal sun, not one patient complained. The last patient was seen at 6:30 pm. All were grateful to be treated and I was grateful to be there.

Our gratitude to the Canadian International Development Agency, the May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Alcon Canada for their generous support in bringing eye care to the people of Madagascar.

By Penny Lyons

I arrived in Moshi, Tanzania on November 6th.  The jacaranda trees are showering lavender coloured blossoms, Mt. Kilimanjaro shines brightly in the early morning sun and the hot season is just beginning.

Part of my job as Executive Director of Seva Canada is to evaluate Seva’s programs overseas. So, at least once a year, I visit one of our partners.  On this trip I am visiting the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology (KCCO) located in Moshi, Tanzania.  KCCO is a mentoring and training facility for community ophthalmology programs and is the only institution of its kind in all of Africa.

I have been attending, and help teach, a course on ‘bridging strategies’.  Bridging strategies are all the activities used to connect people and communities with the hospitals that serve them.  KCCO’s challenge is how to reach the unreached – to find patients and help them get the eye care services they need and deserve.  The students in this course are ophthalmologists, community program managers, hospital directors and ophthalmic nurses from Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Madagascar as well as two of Seva’s partners from the Kham Eye Centre in Tibet.  The students are learning how to create community outreach programs or to improve existing ones.

Today the students and I visited a Direct Referral Site (DRS) which is a screening program where a team, composed of an organizer, doctor, nurse refractionist and counselor, visit selected sites on a regular schedule, diagnosing, counseling and treating patients. Patients who need surgery are transported back to the hospital for surgery.  This DRS is in the Same district, about 2 hours drive south from Moshi.  The KCCO team will be in Same, based in a government hospital, for 3 days.  At the end of the three days the team will transport those patients needing further care, like cataract surgery, back to Moshi.  Once the patients have been treated they will be transported back to the hospital in Same.

I watched the students learn the process of the DRS.  Notebooks and pens in hand they asked questions of the ophthalmologist, counselor, refractionist and the outreach coordinator.  They evaluated KCCO’s outreach programs against their own.  They made suggestions and compared notes with each other.  They critiqued.

Patients, young and old, sat on benches lining the walls and watched the students while waiting their turn to see the doctor.  None of the patients seemed frightened or concerned.  KCCO has been doing outreach in this district for a number of years and their reputation for good-quality care and compassion precedes them.

It was fun to watch the students interact with the patients, outreach team and the other students.  Over the past few days, while participating in the course, they have become comfortable with each other and the easy familiarity crosses cultural and language barriers.  Our two Tibetan partners, an ophthalmologist who is the Director of the Kham Eye Centre and Kham’s community programs director, offer a unique perspective to the African participants that all can benefit from.  I think many of the students will continue to keep in touch and support each other as they develop and refine their own outreach programs.

This support and sharing across borders and across eye care programs is one of the most important activities that Seva supports and is one that will help ensure that effective programs, that reach the unreachable, are developed in all of our program areas.  Africans helping Africans with a little Tibetan know how thrown in for good measure.

Adults with poor vision are at increased risk of early death according to a recent study from the Westmead Millenium Institute in Sydney, Australia, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Researchers found that in a group of adults between 49 and 74, those with noncorrectable vision problems were 35% more likely to die than people with unimpaired vision.

Michael J. Karpa and colleagues analyzed data from the Blue Mountains Eye Study, in which 3,654 Australians over the age of 49 were examined between 1992 and 1994, with follow-up exams at five and ten years. Patients were considered to have noncorrectable visual impairment if they presented with vision worse than 20/40 in the better eye after subjective refraction. The researchers compared these eye health data with Australian mortality records. They found that 13 years after the study started, 1,273 of the participants had died, and that those with vision problems were more likely to die.

Finding showed that difficulty walking, which is often a result of vision problems, is the most significant risk factor. According to the researchers, people who have difficulty walking may be less likely to visit a doctor regularly (for an exam or to get prescriptions for important medications filled). They also may have a poorer diet, be less likely to exercise, be socially isolated, and be less likely to seek urgent help. Previous studies found that people were also prone to other factors that can raise mortality risk, such as unintentional injury, depression, increased risk of falls, and cardiovascular disease.

If adults in the developed world risk early death from poor vision and blindness, in the developing world the risks are higher. Here at Seva we receive terrible stories and photos of blind adults and blind children who have suffered terrible accidents and endured harsh lives because of their vision impairment.

The good news is that for 80% of the world’s blind, there is a solution in sight — their vision loss is either treatable or preventable.

Visit www.seva.ca for more information.

Source: medpagetoday

On Saturday, the Globe and Mail published a two-page feature “A Clear Vision for Better Health” about cataract surgery on Vancouver Island.

The article was about streamlining the surgical process by following the Toyota Production System to make cataract surgery faster and cheaper and to save our health care dollars. Using this model, Royal Jubilee Hospital has increased its cataract surgical rate from 2,800 in 2003 to 3,900 surgeries in 2008.

Here at Seva we know all about CSR — cataract surgical rates. Our mission is to create high-volume, high-quality, low-cost, sustainable eye care programs in the developing world. The gold standard for efficient cataract surgery is our partner in India — Aravind Eye Care System.

With Seva’s help and with funding from CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency, Aravind has become the most productive eye care centre in the world in terms of surgical volume and number of patients treated. In 2008, Aravind’s network of 5 hospitals saw over 2.7 million patients and performed over 300,000 surgeries (over 200,000 of them cataract surgeries). A cataract surgery can be performed in about 5 minutes.

It’s a good enough model for Professor Yunus, the economist and Nobel Prize winner, who is using some of his funds to build a network of eye hospitals in Bangladesh. Teams of eye specialists from Bangladesh are now being trained at Aravind.

So move over Toyota! You’re fine for cars, but if Canadians are looking for a health care revolution in eye care, they should look at Seva’s partner in India.

Thursday October 8th is World Sight Day and Seva Canada is planning a range of events to mark the occasion. This year’s theme for World Sight Day is gender and eye health.

Here are the facts:
1. Two-thirds of the world’s 45 million blind people are women & girls.
2. In many countries, men’s access to eye care is twice that of women.
3. Effective strategies can and do successfully address this inequity.

Seva is a global leader in understanding and addressing the barriers to eye care faced by girls and women.

This World Sight Day, Seva Canada will be holding Seva’s Eye Opener fundraising event at Vancouver’s Heritage Hall, with special guest Dr. Paul Courtright, co-director of the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology (Seva’s partner in eastern Africa) and the world leader on the issue of gender and blindness.

Also, Seva will be launching a national on-line video contest “Her Sight Is Worth It” with great prizes. More about the contest and all our events soon at www.seva.ca.

In February, I wrote about a little girl in Madagascar with such severe and unusual myopia (nearsightedness) that there was no help available to her in her own country.

This morning we received these photos of 8-year-old Andoniaina (Ando for short) wearing her new glasses specially made for her in Canada.

Ando lives on a small island in the Mozambique Channel, off the southwest coast of Madagascar. To seek help, she and her father travelled one hour by speedboat to Tulear on the mainland, then drove 1,000 kilometres to the capital of Antananarivo to get her eyes examined. They were eventually referred to a hospital in Antsirabe, 170 km south of the capital for a second opinion. That’s where Dr. Henry Nkumbe, Seva’s partner in Madagascar, saw the little girl and asked Seva Canada for help.

Seva then called on longterm supporter and optometrist, Dr. Larry Louie, for his expertise. Together Dr. Louie and his colleague Wayne Trieu of I-Lab Optical in Edmonton created a very special pair of glasses. The glasses were then hand-delivered to Madagascar in time for Christmas by a representative of Sherritt International Corporation, a Canadian resources company.

“Something like this is not usually done and isn’t readily available. That’s what made it challenging,” said Dr. Louie. The typical eyeglass prescription is 2.00 to -3.00 points, but Ando has a prescription of -27.00 points for her right eye and -23.50 points for her left eye. This means that, without glasses, Ando can’t see much beyond the tip of her nose. Ando was essentially blind and would not have been able to see the faces of her family.

To keep the glasses from becoming too thick and thus brushing against her eyelashes, Dr. Louie and optician Wayne Trieu used special myodisc lenses with two bi-concave lenses on the front and back of each lens. Another challenge was getting a frame that was strong and durable and that would last a long time.

Andoniaina’s story and the way in which Canadians in three provinces came together to help her was featured in the Edmonton Journal and on Global news.

On behalf of Andoniaina, her family and our partner in Madagascar, Seva Canada would like to thank everyone who helped change this young girl’s life by giving her the gift of sight.

It’s always a challenge to convey to our donors just how much their gifts accomplish overseas.

Though the programs are far away, we try to use our newsletter, website and blog to show supporters just what a tremendous difference gifts of sight make.

In mid-May, we took Seva on the road to Victoria, Nanaimo and Gabriola. It was a chance for us to thank our supporters and to show, through presentations by Penny Lyons (Seva’s executive director), Susan Erdmann (board member) and Dr. Martin Spencer (ophthalmologist and board member) what our donors’ gifts have accomplished.

Marty gave a powerful presentation on the history and work of Seva. Susan followed with her visual eyewitness report of the Seva eye camps in Tibet, “Tibet: Saving Sight on the Roof of the World”.

Here’s some of the comments we received after the shows:

“Really great show! The photos from both Marty and Susan of the incredible joy on the patient’s faces after the surgery are beautiful. It affected us deeply. What a great cause, Seva.” Jill and Jay, Gabriola

“I very much liked the way the evening was organized. The personal touches made us feel so welcome. The refreshments were perfect and the cake for Steve, aside from being delicious, was such a personal touch.” Eveline, Gabriola

“Very good meeting last night. Great atmosphere and well put together. Enjoyed it a lot and would have liked more discussion at the end.” Nicholas, Victoria

Our thanks to all the volunteers and supporters who helped make all three evenings a great success: to Renee Olson, Ashley West, and Helene Cyr in Victoria; to Neil Smith and the Malaspina Theatre staff in Nanaimo; to Gabriola Food Market on Gabriola; to Susan Spinola from Seattle who was so helpful in Nanaimo and on Gabriola; to Carol Mckee for her hours of clean-up on Gabriola; to Hartley & Marks Publishers for the donated Paperblanks; and of course to Susan and Marty for their wonderful presentations.

Finally, our thanks to Dirk Heydemann, a professional photographer and friend of Marty’s, who took photos of the Nanaimo event and has created a lovely slideshow.

To see the photos visit http://www.heydemannphoto.com/index2.php?v=v1, click “Clients” from the bottom menu and enter “Seva” as the password.

On April 28, the award-winning Canadian musician, Terry Kelly, performed a fundraising concert for Seva at the Ottawa school of Seva’s longtime supporter, Alistair Butt. Terry had been impressed with Alistair’s “Eyeballs for Eyesight campaign” and offered to do a charity concert for Alistair, telling Alistair he could give the money to whatever charity he liked. Alistair picked Seva, which Terry fully supported. Both Alistair and Terry know first hand about vision loss. When Alistair was younger, he had severe sight problems and had to wear a patch for 10 years. Terry Kelly is blind.

The event raised $1,231 for Seva Canada’s sight restoration and blindness prevention programs in the developing world. $1000 was donated by Terry Kelly and Alistair raised $231 through the sale of chocolate eyeballs. Every child who attended contributed a toonie.

Terry Kelly’s enthusiasm for life and sheer determination have gained him recognition as an accomplished athlete, award-winning singer, songwriter, entertainer, motivational speaker and a lover of life.

Terry was a double silver medalist at the 1979 Canadian Track Championships, a member of the Canadian Track Team that competed in the 1980 Paralympics, and distinguished himself as the third blind person in the world to run the mile in under five minutes.

This Newfoundland native has been making music since his childhood years. He has recorded six full-length recordings, was nominated for four Canadian Country Music Awards and a JUNO, and has received seven East Coast Music Awards.

Seva is deeply grateful to both Alistair and Terry for their generosity and compassion and for giving the gift of sight to people in the developing world.

On Friday May 8, Talia Designs held a fashion show that helped raise funds for Seva’s sight programs in the developing world. The show was held from 6-9 pm at the Autumn Brook Art Gallery, 1545 West 4th Avenue in Vancouver and raised $600 to restore sight and prevent blindness.

Penny Lyons, Seva’s Executive Director, was there to enjoy the fun along with over 100 attendees. Penny said, “Not only were the clothes beautiful, but every woman wearing them looked stunning. From the moment the doors opened at 6 pm, it was like a feeding frenzy — people went crazy for the clothes and were buying them all evening.”

Our huge thanks to Michael and Nurit Perla for this great event and for your generosity to Seva. To learn more about Talia Designs visit www.talia-designer-clothes.com or contact nuritp@shaw.ca or call 604-734-2173.

Susan Erdmann, board member, Penny Lyons, executive director, and Heather Wardle, development director are all on the road doing a series of Seva shows in Victoria, Nanaimo and on Gabriola.

Susan Erdmann, still in culture shock and jetlagged from her recent sojourn in far west Nepal, is having trouble adjusting to Western bathroom facilities and mattresses. She’s not used to hot water (well, running water for that matter), electricity and flush toilets. She still has trouble putting paper down the toilet; what’s that about?! The sum total of Susan’s expenses for her two weeks in far west Nepal, where she was photographing the primary eye care centres for Seva, were $157.00. Her most expensive room was $4!

Tonight in Victoria Susan will present her show for donors on the eye camps in Tibet which she photographed, at her own expense, in 2007. Yay Susan!

Seva’s partner in eastern Africa is the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology, popularly known as KCCO. Located in Moshi, Tanzania, within sight of Kilimanjaro, KCCO provides eye care services, ophthalmology training and resources to 9 eastern African countries – Tanzania, Madagascar, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia and Zambia.

This short video gives an overview of KCCO’s work bringing sight and preventing blindness in eastern Africa.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMYOYSXlpLw]

Seva’s logo is the Buddha Eyes, also known as Wisdom Eyes, which are painted on virtually every stupa or Buddhist shrine in Nepal. These eyes look out in the four directions to symbolize the omniscience or all-seeing nature of a Buddha. Although Seva is not a religious organization, we believe in compassion in action. Our logo was derived in part from the fact that Nepal was the first country where Seva started working to restore sight and prevent blindness over 30 years ago.

Between the Buddha’s eyes where the nose would be is a curly symbol that looks like question mark. This is the Nepali character for the number 1, which symbolizes unity of all things as well as the one way to reach enlightenment—through the Buddha’s teachings. Above this is a third eye, symbolizing the all-seeing wisdom of the Buddha.

The word seva means “service” in Sanskrit. The founding of Seva was inspired by the global eradication of smallpox that took place in the mid-1970s. Seva founders who were involved in that global effort wrote, “The eradication of smallpox from the world is tangible proof that many forms of suffering can be lifted from the shoulders of the poor and oppressed.”

Seva’s vision is the elimination of preventable and treatable blindness. Although many thought that the eradication of smallpox was impossible, it became a reality. With your support, we will achieve our vision of a world in which no one suffers from blindness that could be prevented or treated.

Join us and visit www.seva.ca