Eye Care - Mission for Vision – Nigeria
Partner
Tulsi Chanrai Foundation
www.tcfnigeria.org
Goal
Eradicate curable blindness in Nigeria.
Vision
Every Nigerian should have access to eye care.
Mission
Establish in partnership high quality sustainable and replicable models in eye care in each of the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.
Duration
2006 to date
Overview
Nigeria suffers from some of the worst health indicators in the world. In the field of eye care the country faces a number of challenges that prohibit most citizens from gaining access to essential services. These include inadequate ophthalmic training for local doctors, an insufficient number of hospitals performing eye surgeries, and extreme levels of poverty.
According to the most recent Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey, over 1 million adults suffer from blindness in Nigeria, mostly caused by cataract, a curable condition. The poor and particularly the rural poor are disadvantaged in accessing treatment as the average cost is $150-300 for a single eye operation, forcing the poor to resort to unsafe traditional methods or to simply remain blind.
The Tulsi Chanrai Foundation (TCF) aims to reduce avoidable blindness among the rural poor of Nigeria by providing high quality eye surgeries completely free to the patients. TCF provides care through 5 charitable eye hospitals in 5 different states.
The Savitri Trust supports the Birnin-Kebbi Hafsat Eye Centre in Kebbi State located in the North West of the country where the blindness prevalence is at its highest. This is the only charitable eye hospital in the whole state.
Savitri Support
From 2006 to 31st March 2011, the Savitri Trust has donated £314,094 to Mission for Vision Nigeria for capital infrastructure, equipment, and 16,891 vision restoring eye surgeries for the poor. Savitri Trust has also supported water and primary healthcare projects throughout Nigeria.
Restaurant link
La Petite Maison in London is our proud sponsor of the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation’s Mission for Vision Nigeria programme. La Petite Maison’s patrons donate £1 per table towards cataract operations conducted at Birnin-Kebbi Hafsat Eye Centre. Deeply saddened by the poverty in Nigeria, his own country of origin, Head Patron, Raphael Duntoye chose to support this work; in 2010, the restaurant raised £27,873 which was matched by the Savitri Trust. We thank all diners and staff of La Petite Maison for their support.
Case Study
Mrs Hussaina Mohammad is 35 years old, a widow and mother to four children. She lives in Bunze Local Government Area in Kebbi State. Her husband passed away in 2003 and since that time she has struggled to get by, working as a cook to support her family earning only 7,000 Naira per month (£27).
Hussaina’s situation deteriorated, as over time her vision began to cloud over until she could barely see her hands in front of her face. Her employer had to let her go forcing her to pull her elder children out of school to start working and contributing to the household. Hussaina offered prayers to Allah for help and appealed to her village. Luckily, a community member told her about the Birnin-Kebbi Hafsat Eye Centre. The relief was immense as the hospital staff informed her that the doctor could restore her vision and all treatment would be completely free of cost.
When she returned to the hospital one month after the operation, her vision had recovered to 6/6. She explained to the staff, “Now I can do my job and care for my children, thank you.”
