Winter 2018 Letter From Dr. Suresh Chandra

Dear family and friends,

Greetings! 2018 was a year of strong progress and growth for CBI thanks to your generosity and support.

This year, we have restored sight to 15,000 people blinded from cataracts, screened 90,000 children in India, Gambia, Paraguay and right here in Madison, Wisconsin, and distributed more than 14,000 pairs of glasses to adults and children. Finally, we opened our second surgical center in Keonjhar, Odisha, India, which provides vital eye care to 1-2 million rural poor.

In the last 34 years, we have supported the screening of over 1.9 million people around the world, supported over 345,000 free cataract surgeries and screened more than 600,000 children for glasses and other eye conditions. In addition, CBI has trained over 300 young women to be ophthalmic technicians and assistants in India.

This year, the theme for World Sight Day was Eye Care Everywhere. This theme really resonates with me, because throughout the years, it has been incredibly important to me that CBI’s work creates lasting change through equity and sustainability – that we provide eye care everywhere, to everyone.

I am grateful to you all for supporting CBI, helping us build awareness of this important work and volunteering both here in Madison and around the world. I never imagined that we would make this kind of impact. This holiday season, I ask that you continue to support CBI. Together, as global citizens, we can change the lives of our neighbors around the world.

I wish you all peace, happiness and good health in the new year. Thank you for your kind support,

Suresh Chandra, MD