SCOTLAND on Sunday is today launching its annual Bring £1 to Work Day to raise thousands of pounds to help prevent blindness in developing countries.
Video reports: Scotland on Sunday in India Part One Part Two Slideshow: View an extensive gallery of pictures of India by Scotland on Sunday photographer Phil Wilkinson Click here to download the Bring £1 to Work poster (PDF)
Click here to download the Sightsavers Infopack (PDF)
Companies and organisations, large and small, are being asked to take part in the Day, on Friday, December 19, to provide much-needed funds for British charity Sightsavers International.
Just £1 can go a long way in countries such as India – the focus of this year's appeal – to help restore sight to both adults and children who have slipped through the seriously underfunded healthcare system.
Loss of sight and the consequent loss of livelihood can have a devastating impact on families engaged in a desperate struggle for survival. Yet a cataract operation for an adult costs just £17 and a pair of spectacles only £1.50. For £45, 100 people can be screened for eye diseases that threaten their future.
Last week we launched our Christmas Appeal with a report by senior writer Jeremy Watson and photographer Phil Wilkinson on the conditions inside the notorious Delhi slums that are contributing to an epidemic of eye disease.
This week they report from the remote Ganges Delta, where the only way to reach thousands of isolated villages to provide eye care is by boat.
The campaign is being backed by Scotland rugby captain Mike Blair, below, who said: "I am delighted to be supporting the Bring £1 to Work Day. It's amazing that such a small amount of money can make so much difference. I would urge everyone to support it if they can."
Scotland on Sunday has raised £135,000 for Sightsavers in the last three years, and we hope with your help to raise more than the £54,000 total achieved in 2008.
The link above gives details of how to organise a Bring £1 to Work Day and how to donate any funds raised. Every company or organisation that takes part will be credited for their generosity in subsequent editions of the newspaper.
Please e-mail
claire.hay@scotlandonsunday.com if you are able to take part. The focus is £1 but please give more if you can. If you would like to donate directly, please use the coupon printed on this page.
Next Sunday we will launch our popular online auction, which last year contributed thousands of pounds to the fundraising total.
Full details will be published next Sunday and the auction will conclude on Sunday, December 21.
He turns to embrace the larger-than-life figure of Gopal Parmanic, the president of the Sundarbans eye hospital where, the day before, his cataract surgery was carried out. "Thank you for saving my sight," he says. "I have my life back again."
The Sundarbans is an exquisitely beautiful rural area south of Calcutta, the old British capital in India.
But amid the breathtaking scenery, life for many is hard, with families often surviving on less than $1 a day.
It has taken Gopal and his partner Bhakta Purkait, the Sundarbans eye hospital secretary, many years to persuade village leaders in these remote communities that treatment for the range of eye problems suffered by those living below the poverty line is both available and affordable.
"One of the big problems here is that people are not aware of eye diseases," Bhakta says. "If they develop cataracts then they think that is just part of life and they put up with it. They will not go to see eye doctors.
Then they think it is difficult to get to the hospital and that the treatment is too expensive."
The founding of the Sundarbans Social Development Centre (SSDC) by the two childhood friends is a remarkable story in itself. During huge floods in the 1980s, the pair teamed up as emergency relief workers. They then decided to start a school in an area where classroom attendance was low.
Realising that eye diseases were being neglected, they founded a small-scale "vision centre" which grew into the 31-bed hospital they preside over today. Although government finance was made available, the size and complexity of the area the hospital serves required extra funding. One of the main overseas partners is British charity Sightsavers International.
Donations raised by the charity help to subsidise the operations that can restore sight to patients such as Gobar. Although a cataract operation for an adult only costs £17, this is an astronomical sum to those in the lower social strata of Indian society. Instead, Gobar only had to pay a subsidised rate of 100 rupees, or £1.20.
Sightsavers also helps to pay for the training of community health workers who travel to the remotest villages to spread the message that medical help is available. They also fund the free screening clinics on the islands in which eye conditions are discovered and diagnosed.
The Sundarbans eye hospital now treats more than 20,000 patients a year and has ambitions to improve the services it can offer. The crammed screening clinics it holds in the market town of Pathar Pratima are indicative of the pressures it has to deal with.
Many patients simply need a pair of spectacles but the optometrist who grinds the lenses is virtually working on the pavement outside.
The SSDC has land earmarked for a new "vision clinic", but the cost of about £30,000 to build and equip the centre is at present unaffordable. Resources are stretched to the limit. As well as trying to prevent blindness and restore sight, the SSDC has a programme to help people who are irreversibly blind to become part of their community.
Jharna Mondal, 30, has only faint childhood memories of her surroundings after being blinded by measles at the age of three. Despite this, she is married with children and, after being trained by SSDC staff, now spends her time making dried flower arrangements, earning up to 10 rupees (8p) a day.
"This lady was totally excluded from the community around her," Bhakta says. "She now has the confidence to cook and clean for herself as well as work to raise money. We cannot give her back her sight but we can help her to live a much fuller life."
Jeremy WatsonHOW TO TAKE PART IN BRING £1 TO WORK DAY • Get the permission of your company or organisation.
• Download the poster and information sheet and use your company intranet site to spread the message.
• On December 19, have a simple collection or organise a fun way to encourage your colleagues to donate. Once you've collected the donations, use the coupon on the information sheet to send the funds to Sightsavers International.
• Your company or organisation will be credited in Scotland on Sunday for its donation. To ensure this, e-mail
chay@scotlandonsunday.com.
If you do not have access to the website but still want to take part, you can call Alison Graham, head of Sightsavers International Scotland, on 0131-625 0008 or e-mail
agraham@sightsavers.org.
SUPPORTERS SO FAR: Optos plc, Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP, DADA, KPMG, Edinburgh International Festival, BAA Scotland, Buck Consultants, BDG McColl, Mainstream Publishing, Scotsman Publications.
