Give the Gift of Sight to the poor in India

It’s not easy to eliminate needless blindness -- Aravind has been working on it for nearly 50 years. But I believe that eventually, we will do it. Together.

Together? You may be wondering what we did together this year?

Together, we provided vision screening for nearly 500,000 school children and eyeglasses for 10,000+ children. We set up programs to provide counseling and personal development in 5 of our 14 hospitals for our very important and hard-working nursing staff. We paid for medicines and travel for more than 1000 farmers and day laborers who had corneal ulcers. We helped spread Aravind's sustainable model of eye care throughout India.  We provided treatment for 40 new patients and 240 review visits for children suffering from eye cancer – diagnostic scans, chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, family counselling, custom prosthesis, genetic testing through our Ring of Hope program. We were busy!  

These are real people you are helping, and one family sticks in my mind. Viswanath came to Aravind when he was two years old; his parents had noticed a white disc in his eye, which turned out to be retinoblastoma (eye cancer). His right eye had to be removed, but his vision in his left eye was saved. A year later, Viswanatha got a baby sister. Since there was a history of eye cancer in the family, the parents brought her in right away. She, too, had eye cancer in both eyes. But because she was treated so early, the doctors at Aravind were able to save both eyes.

At this point, Aravind recommended genetic testing for the whole family and found a genetic mutation in one of the parents that can cause eye cancers.

A third baby was born later that year – cancer in both eyes, but again, because it was identified so early, Aravind was able to save her sight.

This family relies on subsistence farming for their livelihood – they do not have money for MRI’s and CT scans, for chemotheraphy, for genetic testing, for custom prostheses, which need to be replaced every six months as they grow. Without help, most families like them drop out of treatment, risking the vision and life of their children.

Next time someone asks, “What have you been doing?” You tell them, “I’ve been very busy working with Aravind to eliminate needless blindness. Want to know more?”

Please tell everyone about the important, hard work that we are doing together. And, let me know if you have any questions or comments! I would love to hear from you. I wish you a joyful holiday season and blessed 2025.

With gratitude

Donna Campbell, Executive Director

“Much has been done, but much remains to be done. We look to the future with renewed strength to continue the mission of providing quality eye care.” Dr. G. Venkatasamy, founder of Aravind Eye Care System