The word magic takes us
all back to fond memories of childhood, of magic shows, circuses and the like, but
when someone decides to bring magic into the lives of those who are less
fortunate, it is a beautiful story to be retold several times. The magicians
here are Dr. R.V Ramani, founder and managing director of Sankara Eye Care
Institutions in India and his better half Dr. Radha Ramani. What started as a small clinic in Coimbatore is
now a chain of nine community hospitals across India with plans for more such
hospitals coming up in the near future.
The driving force
behind these hospitals is that they work on a ratio of 80:20 free to paid
patients model and their only focus has been providing quality eye care since
their inception. The doctors across all these hospitals perform at least 500
free eye surgeries a day and work tirelessly to achieve the aim of Vision 20:20
by the year 2020 and they seem to be well on target having performed the
millionth free eye surgery in the month of March 2013.
The institution boasts
of an enviable surgery success rate of 98.8%. Dr. Ramani was invited by the
Government of India to be one of the members of the National Vision 2020 team
constituted by the government. Dr Radha Ramani has been a personality to reckon
with in her own way. Recipient of many prestigious awards from the rotary and
ladies circles, she has worked tirelessly in the rural areas to improve
healthcare among women, children, and also improve sanitation standards in
villages.
Inspired by the
Sankaracharyas of Kanchi, the couple established the Sri Kanchi Kamakoti
Medical Centre in the year 1977 to provide primary healthcare to the needy
population which has mushroomed into a number of state of the art eye hospitals
across India. They haven’t restricted themselves to hospitals alone. Medical
camps are organized on a regular basis where patients are screened in rural
areas and if needed referred to one of the hospitals for treatment. Healthcare
is one good that emerged from this
initiative but the institution has given people from remote areas more sources
of income and they are no longer solely reliant on agriculture.
For such a gigantic
cause an external arm is always needed to give that extra push and provide the
necessary support in its initial years to every hospital before it’s
established and can be self sustainable. This support is rendered by its non-
profit fundraising arm, Sankara Eye foundation, USA. The foundation has a huge
presence across different states in United States. The same ethos with which
Dr. Ramani built hospitals in India drives volunteers here to further the cause
and make sure the hospitals get all the help they need. Organizing walkathons,
religious festivities, concerts and many other similar events is their forte.
The latest in the offering is a series of Volunteer and Donor Appreciation Dinners being organized throughout the United States in places such as San Jose, Austin, Houston, New Jersey and New York to bring together all visionaries who have worked tirelessly to inspire more people to contribute to the cause. The reason why these events stand out among a host of other events being organized is that the founders themselves will be gracing the occasion to talk of their journey that helped them give vision to millions back in India. How can you and I benefit from this? The dinner is an opportunity for thousands of us to be able to meet the visionaries in person, to listen to a story that has been no less than a fairy tale, to understand that all it takes to bring about a change is the will to do so, the steely determination to carry on despite obstacles.
If one day we are asked to not see things it’s an unimaginable situation. It takes courage and enthusiasm to carve out some time from our busy life to work towards bringing a change, to do something that will benefit someone sitting thousands of miles away. One does not have to move mountains to make an impact. It could be a skill that one could help with, volunteer with teams at various events being organized, or donate some money that will go towards building state of the art hospitals across India. A couple of hours from your life, a little bit of your hard earned money will help someone see this beautiful world. It’s never too late to start. All the information that you need to get started is available here: www.giftofvision.org .
The latest in the offering is a series of Volunteer and Donor Appreciation Dinners being organized throughout the United States in places such as San Jose, Austin, Houston, New Jersey and New York to bring together all visionaries who have worked tirelessly to inspire more people to contribute to the cause. The reason why these events stand out among a host of other events being organized is that the founders themselves will be gracing the occasion to talk of their journey that helped them give vision to millions back in India. How can you and I benefit from this? The dinner is an opportunity for thousands of us to be able to meet the visionaries in person, to listen to a story that has been no less than a fairy tale, to understand that all it takes to bring about a change is the will to do so, the steely determination to carry on despite obstacles.
If one day we are asked to not see things it’s an unimaginable situation. It takes courage and enthusiasm to carve out some time from our busy life to work towards bringing a change, to do something that will benefit someone sitting thousands of miles away. One does not have to move mountains to make an impact. It could be a skill that one could help with, volunteer with teams at various events being organized, or donate some money that will go towards building state of the art hospitals across India. A couple of hours from your life, a little bit of your hard earned money will help someone see this beautiful world. It’s never too late to start. All the information that you need to get started is available here: www.giftofvision.org .
