International Service Project

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• International Service Project
• Give Sight Coimbatore, India
• Rotaract District 5170, U.S.A.

August 2007
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Give Sight Project, India
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Project Background and Initiation
Miracles cannot cure the blind, you can

• Background
• India is one of the largest contributors to the
  worlds blind population. According to the World
  Health Organization (WHO), over one fifth of the
  worlds blind population lives in India with
  around 4 million being added every year
• 45 million Indians are visually handicapped
• 12 million are totally blind
• Fortunately 80 of them can be cured
• The cure for the blindness that most people in
  India suffer from is as simple as a cataract
  surgery. In the United States, procedures such as
  cataract surgeries are routine however, in
  India, due to lack of access or affordability,
  hundreds of thousands of people suffer from
  curable blindness
• Initiation
• Angel Kelchev, Rotaract District 5170 Governor
  and Pradeep Rajendran, President of Stanford
  Rotaract decided to organize a service project
  aiming to eradicate blindness in Coimbatore,
  India
• They gained the support of multiple Rotary and
  Rotaract clubs as well as corporate sponsors and
  other service organizations
• Local partner was needed to ensure effectiveness,
  scalability and sustainability of project
• Sankara Eye Society leading edge and
  experienced partner providing quality health care
  to all regardless of socioeconomic considerations
  

___________________________ Source
www.sankaraeye.com
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Sankara Eye Society (SES) Introduction
Mission Working towards freedom from preventable
and curable blindness by providing unmatched eye
care through a strong service oriented team

• Founded in the late 1970s by Dr. R. V. Ramani,
  an ophthalmologist the first hospital was built
  in Coimbatore, India
• Today, the 500 bed, state-of-the art, Sankara Eye
  Hospital in Coimbatore has grown to be the number
  one free eye care hospital covering rural areas
  in India
• With over 100,000 eye surgeries annually and a
  rural outreach camp every week (not one week has
  been missed in the last 25 years), the Sankara
  Eye Society has become a model institution that
  blends the leading medical technologies and
  practices in community eye care with the best
  practices in management and human resource
  development
• Currently performing 70,000 FREE eye surgeries
  per year and acknowledged as one of the largest
  rural outreach programs in India

To provide the latest in diagnostic and surgical
care for eye diseases
To provide readily available cost-effective,
quality eye care to all
To always have quality as the sole criterion for
all activities
SES objectives
To establish eye banks and peripheral eye donor
forums for different regions of India
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Project Overview
Goal Partner with interested parties from all
over the world to raise funds and organize an Eye
Camp in Coimbatore, India

• Multiple Rotary and Rotaract clubs, as well as
  corporate sponsors and other service
  organizations like Phi Theta Kappa made it
  possible for 25,000 to be raised for the project
• Lehman Brothers employees from the Menlo Park
  office made donations in the form of 80,000
  frequent flier miles to enable volunteers to fly
  to India and cash donations in the amount of
  6,500, which were then matched by the Lehman
  Brothers Foundation
• The funds were used for the purchase of essential
  medical equipment worth 25,000, which was
  donated to the Sankara Eye Hospital
• Slit Lamp with Applanation
• Computerized Non contact Tonometer
• Direct Ophthalmoscope
• Streak Retinoscope
• Indirect Ophthalmoscopes
• Four volunteers from the US led by Pradeep
  Rajendran and Angel Kelchev traveled to
  Coimbatore, India to help the Sankara Eye Society
  and set up a field Eye Camp in Coimbatore, India
• 300 villagers with severe vision impairments were
  received at the Eye Camp and subjected to medical
  examinations
• After initial medical examinations in the Eye
  Camp, all 300 patients were transported to the
  hospital facilities, where they received free
  cataract surgeries and accommodation
• Pradeep, Angel and their team also cooked and
  served food to all of the villagers and the
  thirty additional volunteers supporting the Eye
  Camp

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The Story of Michael Anthony - One Out of So Many
Unlike other walks of life, medicine is blind to
religion. Through medicine, we are able to break
the boundaries we create

• This was Michael Antony
• He was two years old and lived in an orphanage in
  Vellore, India
• When Michaels mother died giving birth to him,
  the superstitious villagers thought that he was
  the cause of her death, pouring acid into his
  eyes
• From his birth, he was blind

• He was brought to Sankara Eye Hospital, where a
  matching pair of eyes were found
• Surgery was performed on him and he received a
  successful corneal transplant in both eyes

• We were present when the bandages were removed
  from Michaels eyes and he opened them for the
  first time
• Never before have we seen someone so overjoyed to
  see his own shadow

• A Christian boy was given the eyes of a Hindu
  child
• We learned that, unlike other walks of life,
  medicine is blind to religion. Through medicine
  and civic responsibility, we are able to break
  the boundaries we create ..

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Photo Essay
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Arrival at the Eye Camp ..
Commentary

• Diagonal and Up Angel and his team at the Eye
  Camp organized in an elementary school building
  three hours south of Coimbatore
• Left A Sankara Eye Center banner outlining the
  Rotary and Rotaract Clubs participating in the
  project

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The Womens Leader ..
Commentary

• Left One of the leaders of the female groups
• Up She has the important task to explain to the
  rest of the female villagers who have walked for
  many hours to get to the Eye Camp, what is going
  to happen and to reassure them

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The Village Women ..
Commentary

• Diagonal One of the villagers tells the team how
  her vision deteriorated and how she heard about
  the Eye Camp from others who have received a
  cataract surgery. She has walked for hours to
  come to the Eye Camp and despite her fear she is
  determined to undergo the surgery and hopes to be
  able to work again
• Up and Left A widow has brought her son with
  her. She needs to also undergo a cataract surgery
  in order to be able to work and support her son

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The Men ..
Commentary

• All The men sit separately from the women. They
  are excited to meet the volunteers and thank them
  for funding and organizing the Eye Camp. They
  tell them about their problems and about being
  given back hope that they will be able to see,
  work and support their families

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Vision Tests ..
Commentary

• All All of the villagers undergo vision tests.
  Most of them cannot read the charts and are
  assisted by the two staff members so that their
  vision capabilities can be accurately assessed

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Examinations Continue ..
Commentary

• All The villagers are thoroughly examined to
  determine potential issues and complications
  prior to them being operated upon. Their vision,
  blood pressure, blood and urine are tested by the
  Sankara Eye staff

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Examinations Continue ..
Commentary

• Diagonal The men wait in line for all the women
  to be examined first
• Up and Left One of the doctors from the Sankara
  Eye Clinic in Coimbatore further examines the
  eyes of the villagers to determine the specific
  procedure that needs to be performed. Most of the
  people need a simple cataract surgery

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The Classrooms ..
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Well-Deserved Lunch ..
Commentary

• Up and Right After the examinations are
  completed, the team prepares and serves food for
  all of the villagers and the volunteers in the
  classrooms of the elementary school hosting the
  Eye Camp

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With the Kids ..
Commentary

• All Group pictures of the volunteers from
  Stanford University and the kids that lent a hand
  in running the Eye Camp efficiently

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Well Received ..
Commentary

• Left and Right The children are very excited to
  talk to the volunteers and ask them about the
  U.S.
• Bottom Left and Right Upon completing our
  activities at the Eye Camp the team walks around
  the village where everyone is excited to greet
  them and talk to them. People give them food on
  the street and invite them to their shops

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At the Hospital ..
Commentary

• All The villagers with identified need for eye
  surgery are transported to the hospital. On the
  following morning they are lining up for more
  detailed examinations before they are operated
  on. They have all spent the night at the
  hospital, receiving free meals and accommodation.
  The process organization is flawless and the
  patients are processed quickly and efficiently

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Detailed Examinations ..
Commentary

• Up The villagers are subjected to more detailed
  medical examinations to determine whether they
  can undergo the required eye surgeries
• Left Once the villagers are examined and no
  potential complications are detected they are
  taken to the operating room waiting room

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The Surgeries ..
Commentary

• Diagonal Angel was able to observe cataract
  surgeries in the operating room. This procedure
  which then lasted exactly 4 minutes and 39
  seconds and costs a nominal amount by US
  standards has the power to change the patients
  life
• Up and Left Female doctors operating for hours
  on end on the newly arrived 300 villagers that
  day

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Recovery ..
Commentary

• Top Left At the hospitals top floor untreated
  patients are waiting their turn. They are
  genuinely grateful for our help and for the
  hospital staffs support
• Bottom Left This man has volunteered with
  Sankara Eye Society for 20 years and now comes
  back as a patients to receive a cataract surgery
• Top Right Patients are resting after the
  surgical procedures
• Bottom Right One of the leaders of the female
  groups is resting after a long night of
  reassuring the rest of the villagers

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Equipment Donation ..
Commentary

• Left Dr. R.V. Ramani, Founder of the Sankara Eye
  Care movement, accepts our gift of medical
  equipment in the amount of 25,000 and gives a
  lecture on its purposes and uses at the hospital
• Diagonal The medical equipment is officially
  accepted by the Sankara Eye Hospital staff and
  local Rotarians
• Down Group picture in front of the modern
  facilities of the Sankara Eye Hospital,
  Coimbatore, India

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Appendix
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Give Sight Project Participation
Clubs and Organizations
Key Participants
Project Leaders
Bellevue Rotary Club, WA Palo Alto Rotary Club, CA Palo Alto University Rotary, CA Sunnyvale Rotary, CA Coimbatore Rotary Club, India Pazardjik Rotary Club, Bulgaria
Stanford Rotaract Club, CA Silicon Valley Rotaract, CA
Lehman Brothers, Inc. Rotary International Foundation
Rotary Clubs

• Mr. Pradeep Rajendran
• Stanford Rotaract President
• psrajend_at_stanford.edu

Mr. Angel Kelchev Rotaract District 5170 Governor
06-08 www.kelchev.com kelchev_at_gmail.com
Rotaract Clubs
Key Participants

• Mr. Walter Hays, Past President of Palo Alto
  Rotary, CA
• Mr. Robert Rose, WSC Chair at Bellevue Rotary, WA
• Mr. Donn Wadley, Rotaract District 5170 Chair, CA
• Mr. Petar Hristov, Pazardjik Rotary President,
  Bulgaria
• Mr. Don MacKenzie, Palo Alto University Rotary
  President, CA
• Dr. R.V. Ramani, Coimbatore Rotary Past
  President, India
• Dr. S.V. Kandasamy, Coimbatore Rotary Past
  President, India
• Mr. J. Ravi, Coimbatore Rotary President, India

Other
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