Cataract Surgeries and Wheel Chairs for rural Sri Lankans

61 rural villagers who could not afford cataract surgery had their eyesight restored free of charge with the kind generosity of the Sri Lanka Association in Geneva, St. John’s 23rd Parish of Geneva & Mr. Aruna Subasinghe and the kind assistance of HelpAge and Vision Care.

From the total number of blind persons in Sri Lanka (between 93,000 – 150,000 people), blindness caused by cataracts accounts for 70% and although cataract surgery is one of the most cost-effective health-care interventions available today, there are many people who slowly go blind from this affliction due to the lack of financial resources, especially since the Government Health Service in Sri Lanka does not provide the lens and eye drops needed for the surgery.

Therefore, these wonderful donors stepped forward to provide an essential service to restore the sight for 61 people who were suffering from a curable affliction, and we are delighted by the 100% success rate of all of the surgeries, which has been a great blessing to our beneficiaries from both the North and South of Sri Lanka. We must make special mention of the 1 free surgery offered by HelpAge, which helped the total number of surgeries to rise from 60 to 61.

This noble initiative of providing sight to poor villagers who would otherwise have been relegated to a lifetime of darkness simply due to their poverty is a truly inspirational and praiseworthy act and we express our most sincere gratitude to all the donors.

A great big thank you also goes out to Mr. & Mrs. Christian and Gillian Szita from UK, who sponsored the donation of 6 wheel chairs to the Methsewa Foundation situated in Handapanagala, Wellawaya which is a special home for differently abled and special needs children. This most deserving organization provides a crucial service by providing care for these children whose families do not have the capabilities, knowledge or necessary finances for catering to their needs.

Last but certainly not least, a great big thank you goes out to Mr. Chinta Rajap who coordinated these extraordinary undertakings on behalf of the donors and has been a great strength to the Foundation of Goodness over the years with his constant support and genuine dedication towards providing relief for under-served and helpless Sri Lankan communities in need of a helping hand.

For more information about the Methsewa Foundation, please visit: http://methsewa.org/

24th November 2015