Visiting this web site requires a newer version of Netscape Communicator.
Visit Microsoft's Web site to obtain the newest version of Internet Explorer, or visit Netscape's Web site to obtain the newest version of Netscape Communicator.
Visiting this web site without first upgrading your browser may result in unreliable behavior.
GOALS ROTARY GIFT OF SIGHT goals include identifying communities in need of eye banking and eye bank equipment, providing funding and coordinating resources to bring existing technology to these communities. As well, GIFT OF SIGHT supports the development of new and even more effective means of combatting corneal eye disease throuhgout the world. GIFT OF SIGHT seeks to build local community support and cooperation between local governments, health institutions, medical organizations, and business and community service organizations --- most notably Rotary clubs and districts --- to provide comprehensive a local resource support base for fully-functioning, self-supporting eyebank and corneal tissue collection facilities that meet both international medical standards and the needs of the local population. This includes the establishment of promotional and educational programmes to ensure the collection of sufficient eye donation from within the local service area to serve all local need.
ROTARY GIFT OF SIGHT further seeks to coordinate the technological and financial support necessary to achieve the primary goal by outreach to external individual donors, institutions and organizations.
The GIFT OF SIGHT is designed to help coordinate resources as well as to develop new resources to overcome sight impairedness
..... to minimize the effects of diseases of the eye ......to promote tissue and organ donation ......to enhance and improve the quality of life for all who need tissue or organ replacement, making them economically self-sufficient and removing them as a burden on society ......to educate all people in areas of coreal or organ deficiency to the need, desirability and value of tissue and organ donation as a means of contributing to the well being of others and to all peoples of the world; ......to build and support facilities for keratoplasty --- including training centers for the training of surgeons, technicians, administrators and volunteers --- for the donation, transportatiion, evaluation, storage, research, distribution and implantation or other medical utilization of human tissue.
OPERATIONAL PLAN
The primary means of achieving the goals of the ROTARY GIFT OF SIGHT projects are to involve local Rotarians in Host Countries as Directors of Public Education programmes that convince local populations to offer eyes at death as a desireable contribution to society, to serve as Managing Trustees of Eye Banks and as Volunteer Coordinators of Eye Donation Centers, and to seek seek matching funds for all projects, so that individual , instutional, organizational, or corporate donor contributions are worth at least double the original contributed amount or service. This will be accomplished by asking for matching funds from each Rotary organization involved and, where appropriate, from institutions served. ROTARY GIFT OF SIGHT will support a professional partnership with technical overisght and certifying bodies such as the International Federation of Eye & Tissue Banks (IFETB) and Tissue Banks International (TBI) , as well as with affiliate professional associations in each region and country.
It is strongly believed that Rotary's goal must be to serve the greatest number of people through maximizing the Rotary resoruce base. Half of all the corneally blind in the world are in South Asia, and India has the most highly organized local Rotary resources, with over 2,000 Rotary clubs and more than 75,000 Rotary members. Furthermore, Indian Rotarians initiated and have maintained sponsorship of mobilization of the entire nation for polio immunization campaigns for almost a decade.
Thus, it seems to us to make eminent good sense to concentrate Rotary efforts and resources in this region. Establishment of an infrastructureof eye care centers in India will be a model for the entire developing world, for India's existing educational structure and medical training system already have developed over 10,000 ophthalmologists in that one country alone. Plus, a Rotary Gift of Sight Training Centre located in India can be expected to train the largest number of people at the least possible expense to further maximize exiisting resources.
The original inspiration for service club aid to the blind came from Helen Keller in a speech to Lions International in 1925. Click here to read that remarkably visionary challenge.
