By Lucy Gorham | Project Leader
The Jiti Foundation Summer 2022 Quarterly Report
By Lucy Gorham - Project Leader
Your Contributions Continue to Reduce Blindness and Empower Young Women in India!
Warmest thanks to our GlobalGiving donors for their incredible support of our work to expand eye care clinics and support students in the Certified Opthalmic Paramedic (COP) training program under Schroff’s Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH) in Delhi. In the first quarter of 2022, 68 additional young women enrolled in the COP training program, 22 have now graduated, and 38 joined the two-year fellowship program. To date, more than 785 women have been enrolled in the COP program and now make up more than 50% of the staff across Dr. Schroff's vision centers in Delhi and the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand -- all areas with high rates of poverty and avoidable blindness.
Even with the manifestation of Omicron during the year 2021, SCEH performed 27,000 eye surgeries of which14,000 were free or subsidized. COP graduates were instrumental in screening 90,000 patients at 41 vision centers.
Patient Profiles: How Your Support Changes Lives
Brothers Darshan (15yrs) and Amit (8yrs) are typical of the life-changing impact of accessible vision care. Both brothers suffered from poor vision an inherited condition that affected most aspects of their lives - reading, writing and, most importantly, mobility. Fortunately, the blind school they attended benefited from a vision screening program which diagnosed them with treatable cataracts. Now, successful surgery and medication through Schroff's Charity Eye Hospital has allowed their vision to improve dramatically. The sight restoration surgery has given them a new lease on life. Now enrolled in regular schools, Darshan and Amit are both making their teachers and parents proud of their performance and are looking towards bright futures.
COP Profiles: The Young Women Who Inspire the Jiti Foundation
To highlight the importance of your support is for the young women pursuing post-secondary education, we want to introduce you to another successful and inspiring COP graduate:
This dedicated opthalmic technician from Varanasi is learning everything needed to become a doctor’s assistant. Her family of ten includes her mother and father as well as four sisters and three Brothers. She completed her high school studies and aspired to be a nurse but was unable to continue her education because the family could not afford her fees. With support to enroll in the COP program, she is on her way to completing her education, assisting her family, and becoming independent. In addition to improving the lives of people in her community, she would love to explore many places as she loves travelling. She respects her parents a great deal and wants to make them proud.
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