November 2010

This month, all of us at CBM continue to celebrate a remarkable milestone: the performance of the 10 millionth CBM-supported cataract surgery, an unprecedented accomplishment. On October 28, at a hospital in Moshi, Tanzania, Joyce Kayaa symbolically became the 10 millionth person to undergo the 20 minute operation, an operation that would undo heartache and sacrifice.

Watch our video about Elysee's cataract surgery in the Congo

Since our first cataract-surgery in Afghanistan more than 40 years ago, we have emerged as a world leader in the global fight to end preventable blindness. But the harsh fact is that there are approximately 18 million people worldwide who are blind from cataracts, the leading cause of low vision and blindness. And, each year, more than a million more go blind due to cataracts. This leads to devastating economic and quality of life effects on people who are already living in extreme poverty. Their chances of physical survival drastically spiral downward. In fact, in the developing world, more than half of the children who go blind will die within two years, according to the World Health Organization.

That’s why CBM’s goal is to reduce curable blindness even further. Yet our focus isn’t just on numbers but on each and every person whose fate we can change. People like Joyce.

One of Ten Million

Nine months ago, Joyce’s quality of life began to suffer as her vision grew increasingly worse. Each day, she became more dependent upon the help of family members. Before long, she could no longer dress herself or read from her Bible. Taking care of the livestock she owned was not only difficult, it was dangerous. When she accidentally injured a cow with a knife she couldn’t see hidden in the grass, it became clear that Joyce needed full-time assistance.

Though her family stepped in to help, they did so at a high cost. Her son gave up his training to become a gardener, and her niece quit her job. This loss of income stressed the family’s finances.

Yet just when Joyce had almost given up hope, she was screened by CBM health-workers who gave her incredible news: she had cataracts, and there was a simple surgery that would restore her sight.

Today, Joyce is recovering and looking forward to doing the things she once loved, especially reading from her Bible. What’s more, her son can continue his training, and her niece can return to work. They too have benefited from Joyce’s surgery.

When I think about Joyce and the millions more whose lives have been transformed, I am so thankful for the CBM donors who have made this remarkable milestone possible. Currently, CBM supports about 200 eye hospitals and eye departments worldwide. Because of our intervention—made possible by the generosity of our faithful donors—a blind person can see again every minute. This is truly something to be proud of!

With a gift of $35, you can give the gift of sight to someone with cataracts. Yet beyond surgery, your gift provides so much more. In fact, of the 10 million surgeries we’ve performed through the years, there are millions more whose lives have been dramatically improved.

I hope that you will take a moment now and join us in our continuing efforts to bring sight and renewed life to the millions of people suffering from preventable blindness. Together, we can make a profound difference.

October 2010

Countdown to 10 Million Now Seeing, Hoping, and Dreaming

By Ron Nabors, CEO, CBM-US  

As I write to you this month, I’d like to ask that you join with us as we prepare to celebrate a remarkable milestone: the performance of the 10 millionth CBM-supported cataract surgery! Made possible by the generous ongoing support of CBM donors, this is an unprecedented accomplishment by any other organization in the world.

Together with our CBM partners around the world, we’re keeping a close watch as we move ever closer to the 10 millionth surgery. In fact, the more than 675,000 surgeries we performed last year  combined with those we’ve performed already in 2010 have put us right on track to reach 10 million by the end of October.

Since the first CBM-supported cataract surgery in Afghanistan in 1966, we have become a leader in the global fight to end preventable blindness. What’s even more amazing is that this fight, which helps millions of people around the world who are blind from cataracts, begins with as little as $35—the average cost of a cataract surgery for an adult in the developing world. Surgery for children with cataracts may cost as much as $200 due to general anesthesia needs. Yet the impact this surgery has is truly priceless.

Each year, more than a million people will go blind as the result of cataracts. For people who are already living in extreme poverty, cataracts drastically affect their quality of life. Now, these people who are on the edge of survival, face the loss of education, the ability to support themselves, and lack of acceptance within their communities. What’s more, their life expectancy drops substantially.

Bahati, a little boy in Tanzania, could have been just another statistic if not for CBM’s help.

His mother, Evelyn, first noticed that he had a problem when he began spending much of his time in the shade. Whenever Bahati went out into the sunlight, he had difficulty seeing. It was only when he started attending school, however, that Evelyn learned the terrible truth: Bahati was almost completely blind.

Often, he would return home from school covered in cuts from thorn bushes because he couldn’t see well enough to walk by himself. Soon, he was forced to quit school entirely. To make matters worse, Bahati couldn’t see well enough to help his family in the fields either. Once, he even threatened their meager livelihood when he cut the good maize, having mistaken it for weeds.

Thankfully, Evelyn heard about a small health station close to her village. The clinic referred Bahati to the CBM-supported Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT) hospital in Dar es Salaam. CCBRT arranged for Bahati and his mother to travel to the hospital where he would have sight-restoring cataract surgery.

Today, Bahati’s life has been completely transformed. Evelyn tells us, “Bahati is behaving much differently now. He’s much happier playing. Now, he can go back to school and can help out in the fields.”

CBM-supported surgery freed Bahati from a lifetime of hardship and provided him with the opportunity to achieve an education. This is one vitally important step in helping Bahati, his village, and his country break the poverty/disability cycle. Poverty and disability are intrinsic in the developing world. People with disabilities and their families are more likely to live in extreme poverty. Likewise, people who live in poverty are much more likely to become disabled.

That’s why I’d like you to know that your gift does more than restore vision. It actually restores lives and helps to break the devastating cycle of disability and poverty.

On behalf of Bahati, the almost 10 million people who’ve received sight-restoring cataract surgery, and the millions more whose lives have been changed for the better as a result, I’d like to ask you to Join CBM  (www.cbmus.org)in counting down to this remarkable milestone and in the fight against preventable blindness.

In the developing world, more than

half the children who go blind will

die within two years.

- World Health Organization.

  

                            

 

 May 2010

Special Guest Blog from Loretta Dodgen, Chairman of the Board, CBM. In February, Dodgen traveled to CBM project sites in Peru with CBM-US CEO Ron Nabors.

Before I traveled to Peru this past February, I had a heart for CBM and our vital work with the most vulnerable group of people in the world. However, it wasn’t until I visited these projects in person that I truly grasped the profound impact CBM—through donor investments—makes on lives and the breadth of the services we provide. My experience wasn’t just about people with disabilities, however, it was about CBM workers – people who have given their lives to provide support and encouragement to those who are less fortunate. Seeing their commitment and dedication was a life-altering experience for me. I was overwhelmed.

In the slums of Lima, Peru, where hundreds of thousands of families live in crushing poverty, CBM ministers to those with disabilities. In an area without running water, life is unimaginably difficult. Yet for families who have disabled children, life is more than difficult—it’s heartbreaking. Our first stop in Lima was to the home of Maria Jesus. Her father works hard to earn about $46 a week and spends almost 10 percent of his earnings on purchasing safe drinking water for the family. To make their already difficult existence even harder, their young daughter, Maria Jesus, suffers from cerebral palsy low vision, and epilepsy. With barely enough resources to provide food and shelter, Maria Jesus’ parents desperately wanted to help her, but did not know how. They feared Maria Jesus would spend her days in darkness and isolation, refusing physical touch.

However, thanks to intervention from CBM Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) workers, Maria Jesus’ life has been completely transformed. These amazing workers have provided therapy and sensory stimulation for the little girl who now loves to be held and is learning and thriving. What’s more, Maria Jesus’ parents also have found support. Her mother attends a local support group for mothers of children with disabilities and feels more confident in caring for her daughter as a result. I felt so blessed to have spent time with this family. To see this type of transformation first hand was a true testament of CBM’s life-changing work.

In addition to helping the individual, our CBR workers and international staff make an even greater impact by helping to change entire communities. Working hand in hand with local Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) as well as local governments, they ensure the full inclusion of people with disabilities into communities and societies. I’m both inspired and proud of the incredible dedication of our CBR workers who often travel miles away from home to serve people with disabilities living in remote communities. At times, they work in situations where their own lives are at risk, yet they go to work every day, and they go joyfully. That’s powerful work that brings about powerful change.

Now, as I lead CBM’s Board of Directors, I have taken some of the resilience and determination that I witnessed in Peru and am using it to help enhance awareness of this important organization so that we can continue to reach those who are most in need. It’s not an easy task. In fact, it’s one that requires a significant amount of determination and prayer. We as Americans are bombarded by images of suffering both within our own country and overseas. I know that these are all important causes. Yet when I’m asked why I choose to spend my time working with an organization that focuses its resources overseas, my answer is simple: in the United States, even the poorest can find access to services needed. But for people with disabilities living in the poorest countries of the world, help is nonexistent. They literally have nowhere else to turn. We have a responsibility as Christians and as citizens of the world not to ignore them. Please join in my quest to help.

April 2010

Each year on the second Sunday in May, we celebrate Mother’s Day. Already retail stores are stocked with hundred of greeting cards and not-so-subtle reminders of gift ideas for Mom. But behind the cards and flowers lie the real reason we celebrate this special day—the deep abiding love of our mothers.

Around the world, mothers work tirelessly to protect and care for their families. They are the ones who often go hungry so others can eat. They sacrifice physical comfort and even their own hopes and dreams just to provide the best possible lives for their children.

Sadly, however, there are millions of mothers around the world who struggle daily just to keep their children alive. Despite their incredible sacrifices, they remain trapped within the oppressive confines of poverty. Mothers of children with disabilities have an even more difficult time. Lack of access to education, proper nutrition, adequate medical care, and rehabilitation leaves them with nowhere to turn. Without outside intervention, not even their love is enough to save their children.

I’d like to share the story of Menia with you. She is a dedicated mother who loves her little girl, Esther, very much. When Esther was just a baby, Menia noticed that other children Esther’s age were standing, but her daughter remained limp and lifeless. As the other babies began to toddle, Esther remained immobile, staring up and off into the distance. Menia desperately hoped that Esther would improve, but she wasn’t sure how to help her.

Already, Menia was under a great deal of stress. Like other mothers of children with disabilities, Menia’s husband left her when Esther was born. As a single mother of three, she struggled to provide food and shelter. Now, with Esther’s condition, she found herself trapped in a seemingly impossible situation. No matter how much she loved her daughter, it just didn’t seem to be enough.

Thankfully, Menia found guidance through a local CBM worker in her community. Esther was diagnosed with severe “floppy” cerebral palsy and referred to a physical therapist named Wongani. She worked daily with Esther on a variety of physical exercises designed to strengthen her muscles and taught Menia how to perform these same exercises, empowering her to take care of her daughter on her own. CBM also provided a special chair for Esther, allowing her to sit upright and arranged for her to receive a wheelchair.

But that’s not all. Menia was enrolled in a support group for other mothers of children with disabilities. Here, she was not alone. She found encouragement and no longer felt the heavy confines of sadness and helplessness.

When your love joins with these mothers’ love, you help to accomplish the extraordinary. You are investing in CBM’s programs to support women and mothers of children with disabilities. Through education, rehabilitation, micro-credit opportunities, and medical intervention, you literally free them from the burden of poverty, shame, and despair.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this year, I’d like to encourage you to reflect upon your own mother, grandmother, or other special woman in your life who has given of herself to make your life better and say a special prayer of thanksgiving for her love. And, if you’re led, I’d like to encourage you to give a gift in honor or in memory of her. Your loving partnership will empower people with disabilities worldwide.

“And now these three remain:

Faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.”

-1 Corinthians 13:13