India – why Bihar?

Bihar is a butterfly-shaped state in north eastern India. When we were invited there by legendary Indian eye surgeon Dr Helen Nirmala Rao, we decided that we would focus our clinical and financial resources here.

For a small charity this was still a large and ambitious brief.

At that time, one in every 100 people of Bihar’s 100 million + population was completely blind from cataract. Numerous others were blind or at risk of blindness from other easily preventable conditions.

Each of our associated hospitals is an independent unit and finances most of their day to day costs including salaries. However, they have not got the means to offer free treatment to the vast numbers of cataract-blind patients still coming to them for surgery.

For this we raise money…by not wasting a penny on expensive TV advertising or brochures but by being available to anyone who picks up the phone and able to answer any query you may have in clear, truthful language. If you cannot call, visit the blog page updated by founder Lucy Mathen whenever she has important information.