Physical Health India Project #1035

Give the Gift of Sight to the poor in India

by Aravind Eye Foundation

Give the Gift of Sight to the poor in India

Project Report | Aug 20, 2019
Giving Hope to All Ages! Aravind Expands our Ring of Hope program for eye cancer

By Donna Campbell | Executive Director

Muthuammal, mother of five and grandmother

Blindness ranks as one of our greatest fears – some studies show that it surpasses fear of losing a limb, memory, or hearing. So much of how we learn, work, and generally interact with our surroundings comes through sight. It’s no wonder that we are afraid.

Many of our patients at Aravind face another fear – not being able to pay for treatment when they are diagnosed with eye cancer. In India, treatment can cost between $1000 and $2000 for diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and rehabilitation, an astronomical amount when the average wage is $2 a day. Your donations give them hope for recovery and resuming their normal lives.

Eye cancer affects all ages – so going forward you will see some new faces in my reports to you. I often write to you about our young patients who are being treated for retinoblastoma, which primarily affects children up to age 5 years. This year we expanded our Ring of Hope program to provide treatment and rehabilitative services for all patients who can’t afford to pay, no matter their age. When a parent or grandparent gets sick, it has a huge impact on the whole family and community.

An example is Muthammal, who is 69 years old and has five children. Even at this age, she continues to work so that she too can play her part in supporting the family. Muthammal first visited Aravind in March 2019, seeking a cure for her eye problem. She was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. She was broken-hearted on hearing that she had cancer. Muthammal was equally worried about the huge cost involved in treatment. Thanks to Aravind’s Ring of Hope, she has now completed six cycles of chemotherapy and is on regular follow-up. Totally free, because of you.

Thank you for supporting all our patients and being part of our family! I would love to hear from you – especially if you have any family members who are struggling vision issues, no matter what their ages. You can email at donnacampbell@aravind.org or contact me through twitter @AravindEye. Or visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AravindEyeFoundation/

With gratitude, Donna

Links:

What's the worst that could happen? Fear of going blind.

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May 23, 2019
Just one word -- COURAGEOUS!

By Donna Campbell | Executive Director

Birju family at Aravind Eye Hospital-Madurai

Aravind celebrated World Retinoblastoma Awareness Week with Survivors’ Day at our hospital in Madurai last week. More than 100 children and their families gathered to celebrate their victory over eye cancer, share their stories and support each other. Both the Times of India and The Hindu covered the event with wonderful, full-length articles. I have just one word – COURAGEOUS!

Our Aravind doctors and nurses give the best treatment possible. But the real cure requires the courage of our patients and their families to go through surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and rehabilitation, usually over a period of several years.

Birju and his daughter Kirthiga are two of our courageous survivors. Birju is a hearty young man from Trivandrum in Kerala. He had retinoblastoma as a child and had both his eyes removed. Completely blind, he has had difficulty finding work. A school employed him as teacher for some time, but later he had to quit. He married, and a year later the couple was blessed with a cute little girl whom they named Kirthiga. The mother noticed a white reflex in the baby’s eyes, and they brought her to Aravind. Kirthiga was just one and a half years old when she was diagnosed with cancer in both eyes. One eye had to be removed and the other one is undergoing chemotherapy. The outlook is good – and your donations are paying for all her treatment.

The courage doesn’t end there – Birju is now receiving rehabilitation services at Aravind, also for free. He hopes to go back to work and support his family.

Nearly 40% of retinoblastoma patients in India have the genetic form of eye cancer – like Birju and his daughter Kirthiga. Through our genetic testing lab, we can now predict who is likely to get retinoblastoma and start treatment early enough to save their sight and lives. The head of our program, Dr. Usha Kim, said, “We have children who were brought when they were eight days old. In such conditions, we are able to protect their vision.”

Thank you for supporting our courageous patients and their families. As always, I would love to hear from you. You can email me at donnacampbell@aravind.org. Follow us on Facebook: AravindEyeFoundation or tweet us @Aravindeye.

And help us raise awareness about retinoblastoma so that more children will get early diagnosis and treatment.

In gratitude, Donna Campbell, Executive Director, Aravind Eye Foundation

Links:

The Hindu -- Genetic analysis improves eye cancer treatment

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Feb 22, 2019
Meet the Heroes of Aravind Eye Foundation!

By Donna Campbell | Executive Director

Have you ever had the chance to meet a hero? I did today! Several, in fact. I am visiting Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and had the opportunity to meet 25 of our young retinoblastoma patients and their families. Some came 75 kilometers or more for an event to celebrate their courage in surviving cancer. They ranged in age from a two-month-old girl, who is just starting treatment, to 17-year-old Jayanthi, who is taking her 12th standard in a few months and hopes to go to college. I met Diwakar and his baby sister Rithka Sri – who’s no baby now. She’s seven years old and all smiles. Another girl has low vision in both eyes as a result of cancer, but that hasn’t stopped her from winning several awards for sprinting.

Retinoblastoma is a malignant eye cancer that primarily strikes children under the age of five. In the U.S., it’s over 90% curable, but in India, because of late diagnosis and treatment, many children lose their sight and sometimes their lives.

Many of the kids I met have been coming to Aravind for several years. They’ve gone through several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. Some have lost an eye and been fitted with a prosthesis, custom-made by our ocularists to match. Their families have worried and suffered with them. They are all heroes of Aravind.

The one thing they didn’t have to worry about was how to pay for their treatment – thanks to you. Your donations helped these children receive the best treatment available.

Thank you again for your kind and generous support. If you would like to know more about Aravind and our work with retinoblastoma patients, please don't hesitate to contact me. You can email me at donnacampbell@aravind.org -- I would love to hear from you. Follow us on Facebook @AravindEyeFoundation or tweet us @Aravindeye.

With gratitude,

Donna Campbell, Executive Director

"Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must be the joy of doing something beautiful."

From the journals of Dr. G. Venkataswamy, Founder of Aravind Eye Care System

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