Seva Foundation
Mission: "Seva builds partnerships to respond to locally defined problems with culturally sustainable solutions."
In China since: 1995
Annual China budget: $300,000
Number of staff: 4 national
Mainland China contact:
Kunga Tashi
Programme Manager
27, North Linkor Road
Lhasa 850000, Tibet,China
Tel: 86 891 6814868
Fax: 86 891 6812125
Email: sevatibetoffice@china.com
International Contact:
Seva Foundation
1786 Fifth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
USA
Tel: (510) 845 7382
Fax: (510) 845 7410
Email: admin@seva.org
Web: www.seva.org
Seva Service Society
Suite 100-2000 West 12th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C., V6J 2G2
Canada
Tel: (604) 713 662
Fax: (604) 733-4292
Email:admin@seva.ca
Web: www.seva.ca
Activities in Other Countries:
India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tanzania. Guatemala, Mexico and Native American communities in the USA
Seva Foundation was established in the United State of America in 1978. Seva is a non-governmental, non religious and non-profit humanitarian organization. In 1982, Seva Canada was established in Vancouver, Canada.
For twenty-eight years, Seva has developed innovative, sustainable eye care programs to prevent blindness and restore sight to people around the world. With its early partners in Nepal and India, Seva created a highly successful, high-volume approach to providing quality eye care in developing countries. Seva is a supporting member of Vision 2020: the Right to Sight-a global initiative to prevent 100 million people from going blind over the next twenty years.
Seva Tibet Sight Program is combined effort of Seva Foundation, USA and Seva Canada. Seva has been conducting blindness prevention work in Tibet since 1995. The ultimate goal of Seva’s work in Tibet is to build a sustainable, affordable eye care infrastructure that is available to everyone.
In 2001, Seva in collaboration with Tibetan Autonomous Region Health Bureau, Tibet Development Fund and the British Columbia Centre for Epidemiologic and International Ophthalmology for the first time conducted an eye care survey for Tibet Autonomous Region. The findings of Tibet Eye Care Assessment revealed cataract as the leading cause of blindness in Tibet. This survey also led to a regional eye care planning meeting in 2002.
A surgical team consisting of ophthalmologists, anesthetists and nurses has been trained in seven program hospitals in Tibet, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces. Each hospital has received surgical equipment, instrument and essential medical supplies to deliver eye care services on regular basis. Seva is supporting the local teams to conduct over 5000 sight restoring surgeries each year in their communities. To date, 17,032 sight restoring surgeries have been conducted both in Seva subsidized hospitals and eye camps. 563 health care providers at village, township, county and prefecture levels have received training in clinical and surgical ophthalmology, refraction and primary eye care and participated in professional exchange visits to eye care institutions in Nepal, India and the USA.
The cost of Cataract Intra Ocular Lens implant surgery for rural populations has decreased from $200 to $75 per surgery, on average in all program hospitals in Tibet, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces. The volume of cataract surgery has increased steadily over the last five years.
As of late 2006, Seva and its partners in Kandze, Sichuan province had signed a contract to develop a new eye hospital in eastern Tibet over the coming three years. Seva believes this project has the potential to provide high quality eye care to this region as well as serve as a base from which to organize outreach activities. Seva has also invested 2.9 million USD in the Tibet Sight program.
For the year ended June 30,2005, Seva's total income was USD 4.05million". The great majority of this was donated by private individuals.
CKC 3/07
Links
http://www.seva.org
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