Gift of Sight by Rigpe Dorje Foundation 2010
Rigpe Dorje Foundation
9461 Charleville Blvd., #268 . Beverly Hills, California 90212
Extend Life by Restoring Sight
Imagine the joy of preventing a blind person from dying an early death by offering to restore their sight. Impoverished people in Nepal and India who have cataract blindness can be treated with surgery that not only restores their sight but extends their life.
In rural Nepal, the life expectancy of a “functionally blind”* person is estimated at about 3 years according to the London Vision Clinic Foundation. This places a blind person in a desperate situation. They are eventually isolated, neglected and die a lonely death. To prevent this from happening, Rigpe Dorje Foundation developed its Gift of Sight program to fund mobile eye surgery camps and medical care expressly for them.
Photos from the Mobile Eye Surgery Camp, Rigpe Dorje Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal, November 2010
The Gift Of Sight program screens potential patients in the remote villages of Nepal to determine what medical eye treatment is needed and arranges for eligible cataract surgery patients to be transported to a scheduled mobile eye surgery camp. The screening, surgery, medical treatment and transportation are provided free for these individuals through funding from Rigpe Dorje Foundation in collaboration with other charitable organizations and private donors.
In 2010 Rigpe Dorje Foundation contributed $10,000 to the mobile eye surgery camp held at the Rigpe Dorje Institute in Katmandu, Nepal. 188 cataract surgeries were performed over a two day period with 100% success. The Foundation continues to provide funding for these program services annually to save even more lives. Sponsoring the cataract surgery portion of the medical services only takes $40 per patient for one eye and $80 for both eyes. A donation to the general fund helps with screening, food, transportation and accommodations.
Rigpe Dorje Foundation is dedicated to the wishes of H.E. Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and has the privilege of supporting Rinpoche’s projects through the devotion and excellence of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche’s administration at Pullahari Monastery in Nepal. All donations for the Gift Of Sight program are offered in honor of Rinpoche’s aspirations to benefit all beings. We sincerely wish to preserve and extend life for all beings and to inspire others to regard all
life as precious.
*A person is “functionally blind” as defined by the World Health Organization, when he or she is unable to perform the tasks of daily living that are needed to survive.
