A fund-raising trek through Bhutan in April 2018, being organised by not for profit Sight For All, hopes to raise AU$100,000 to support sight-saving work in the country.
Sight For All’s mission is to empower communities to deliver comprehensive, evidence-based, high quality eye health care by providing research, education, equipment, and health awareness. The organisation works in Australia, Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Sri Lanka and Vietnam with the ultimate aim being to reduce vision impairment and blindness, which in turn can break the cycle of poverty. A team of more than 100 ophthalmologists, optometrists, orthoptists, ophthalmic nurses and scientists from Australia and New Zealand each year donate up to 10,000 hours of their time, goodwill and expertise to Sight For All’s projects in Asia.
In Australia, for instance, Sight For All has created a series of educational videos to raise awareness among Aboriginal people of major blinding conditions such as diabetic eye disease and cataract, that afflict their communities.
Their work in Asia is far-reaching. For example, Sight For All trained Myanmar’s first children’s eye specialist in Australia. In the first year after Dr. Aung’s return home, there was a twelve times increase in the number of children’s eye surgeries performed in Myanmar. He is currently treating 20,000 children every year and is now training his own children’s eye specialists.
This voluntary contribution is improving the lives of half a million people annually and growing every year.
Join or Support the 2018 Trek to Bhutan
In April 2018 adventurer and mountaineer Katie Sarah, the first South Australian woman to climb Mount Everest, will lead a fund raising Trek for Sight in Bhutan, described as “the last pristine Himalayan Kingdom which boasts amazing scenery and traditional Buddhist culture”. Ms. Sarah, who owns the world class adventure company Sarah Mountain Journey, will donate her time and expertise to Sight for All for the trip.
The 11 day trip includes six days of trekking at moderate difficulty. The cost of the trip is $4,750 excluding airfares and it is hoped that each participant will raise $5,000 to support Sight for All. The overall aim is to raise $100,000 from this trip. Sight for All Chairman and Adelaide Ophthalmologist Dr. James Muecke, said funds raised will provide eye care doctors in Bhutan with vital ophthalmic equipment to target diabetic retinopathy, the fastest rising cause of blindness in developing Asia. The equipment is being supplied by Heidelberg at wholesale price.
Sight For All is a not-for-profit organisation, dependent on charitable donations, corporate sponsorship and the support of the Australian Government. Sight For All has been accredited by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and is a member of the Australian Council For International Development, Vision 2020, and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.
Funds raised for Sight For All are tax deductible, however the cost of undertaking the trip to Bhutan is not.
For all travel and trek queries contact: [email protected]; (AUS) 0401 312 240
For Sight For All fundraising queries contact: Pagen Winen; [email protected]; (AUS) 08 8222 4937.
