Empower women in rural India to combat blindness

We are thrilled to announce that the Jiti Foundation will provide funding for a new Vision Center on the outskirts of Delhi, India that will open in 2025.  Your support has made this possible!  A major focus of the Center will be expanding access to vision screening and surgery for those with limited incomes, including young children such as Monika.  Diagnosed with eye cancer at the age of 4, Monika's family couldn't afford the life-saving surgery she needed and Monika soon became withdrawn from school and friends. With the help of Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, our partner in India, Monika was able to receive the surgery she needed and she is now a bright and happy student who is excelling at school.

In addition to vision exams, the new Vision Center will screen for cataracts which are the largest cause of preventable blindness in India.  In this area of Delhi, only half of the needed cataract surgeries are taking place each year, leaving many behind who could otherwise be treated.  Because of its location on the outskirts of Delhi, it will also be able to serve those in neighboring smaller towns and villages where access to basic vision care and cataract surgery has also been limited.

As is true of the other Vision Clinics funded by the Jiti Foundation, this clinic will be staffed by the Opthalmic Paramedics and other support personnel trained through Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, our primary partner. The Opthalmic Paramedic Program, a companion initiative and ongoing recipient of Jiti Foundation support, provides an exceptional pathway for young women to be trained for a stable and well-paying carreer. 

Many of the young women in this and recently expanded training programs are recruited from rural villages where opportunities for women are extremely limited.  Not only does this allow these young women to provide financial support to their families, including covering the school fees of younger brothes and sisters, but the connections between these young women and their home communities contributes greatly to the success of the Vision Centers. Thanks to your support and the dedicated work of the staff of the Vision Centers and Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, life is brighter for the growing number of women trainees and the growing number of communities and patients they serve.

Title: Ophthalmic Assistant training: Expanding capacity and sustaining livelihoods!

Did you know the ideal ratio of ophthalmologists to paramedical staff is 1:5, while the existing ratio in India is only 1:1? Through your support, the Jiti Foundation is proud to address this need by sponsoring scholarships for young women to train to serve these critical paramedical staff roles in vision centers, such as the Certified Ophthalmic Paramedics (COP) program. We support our on-the-ground partner, Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH) to train yearly cohorts of talented young women in this program and others. These new trainees then go on to enrich and strengthen the eyecare health services throughout the expansive regions of India which Dr. Shroff'’s supports. 

The experience of SCEH patient Sushila illustrates how this program transforms lives. Sushila, a 42-year-old  woman born with a  physical disability, navigates the world in a wheelchair. Her passion for singing fuels her strong spirit. She  shares her voice with the  world and has showcased her unique talent in various concerts. Her life was already riddled with struggles when Sushila realized that her vision was deteriorating. She  visited SCEH and was diagnosed with cataracts. She was anxious and scared of the surgery but she was reassured that her condition was treatable. She was also found to have uncontrolled blood pressure and  diabetes and her surgery had to be deferred. However, her dream of making it big as a singer didn't allow her to give up. She regularly followed up  with her medical team to manage her systemic diseases. Eventually, she underwent a successful cataract surgery and her world transformed from darkness into a cascade of colors and shapes.  With her vision restored and health  stabilized, she can now focus on her career as a singer. ~ With thanks to Kalpana Gupta at Dr. Shroff’s for sharing this story.

Your support of this programming has meaningful, two-fold impact. Not only does our programming address a large unmet need of eyecare services and blindness prevention in India, you are also making a lifetime of impact by empowering young women with the opportunity to make a sustainable livelihood. According to Dr. Shroff's, more than 1,394 young women trained in this program have received job placements in their network of vision centers. That is almost 50% of their workforce of paramedical staff! 

Thank you for continuing to believe and support our impactful programming. We hope to see you back here on GlobalGiving for July Bonus Day on July 10th!