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Matching Grant # 58012 - Rotary District 3160 - India 
Rotary's Gift of Sight

This matching grant project will fund 2,000 surgeries where cataracts will be removed and intra-ocular lenses will be implanted. These surgeries will be done throughout the region of D3160, India.

In addition to Rotary District 3160, other funding partners are the Avoidable Blindness Donor Advised Fund, and Rotary Districts 6040, 6060, 6490 and 6710.

The project partner is Rotary District 3160 and the international partner is the Rotary Club of Monticello, IL, D6490.
 

There are many extremely poor people in this region of India suffering from total blindness due to mature cataracts covering both eyes. While mostly a disease of the elderly, there are patients of nearly all ages with cataracts due to many factors.

This young 22 year old agricultural worker experienced an eye injury and developed this cataract in his left eye over two weeks ago.  He has been declined by other hospitals due to lack of ability to pay and complexity of the case for the average ophthalmologist.  Our Rotarian partners were able to successfully treat this young man, who now has excellent vision, thanks to Rotary.

Over 100 surgeries were underwritten by a generous donation made by Rotarian Robert Stalinski, who dedicated a portion of the December 2005 sales from his printing business to Avoidable Blindness.

A large eye screening camp was help in Zaheerabad in February 2006. At this point in time (March 2006) over 800 of the funded 2,000 surgeries have been completed.

Project status: approved, work is complete, project closed.