What we are proud of

24 years on :

• Well over 550,000 cataract-blind people have had their sight restored and countless others prevented from going blind from other eye diseases. But we are prouder of the fact that each patient was treated with respect and given the highest quality of care, regardless of their economic situation, religion, caste or creed.

• We maintain, through vigilant and consistent travel around rural Bihar, an unrivalled and accurate overview of who is doing what in rural ophthalmology. We are able to see behind the Beautiful Facades portrayed on social media.

• Small and agile as an organisation, we can make crucial decisions quickly.
  Solar power was installed at five of our partner hospitals within a year. Deep boreholes sank within weeks when hospitals ran short of water.

• Small incision cataract surgery (SICS), an operation pioneered in India, is still the surgery of choice for cataract-blind patients at our partner hospitals. Not only is this a safe, cheap and highly effective operation, it is less wasteful a procedure than phaco-emulsification. This latter operation is chosen by other charitable hospitals in Bihar (and of course private practitioners) because they can charge more from the patient or claim back more from insurance schemes. Phaco has 2.5 times the carbon footprint of SICS.
  'SICS is a game changer. It is simple, cheap and almost unbelievably impactful. We in the UK have so much to learn from innovative pioneers in India.'
  UK Professor of Ophthalmology Philip Bloom.

• Our teams were the first in India to use solar-powered ophthalmoscopes in village outreach programmes. We are grateful to the inventor William Williams who donated them.

• After almost a quarter of a century and an increased workload, we remain a no office, no admin, no salaries, no expenses, no frills charity dedicated to 100% of donors’ money curing the blind and preventing blindness.

• No hiding behind generic mission statements and public health jargon. Pick up the phone and talk to us. We will answer your questions truthfully and clearly.
  +44 (0)7957300136 or +44 (0) 207 3591315