Our Work
Two Rotary clubs, one operation, done hundreds of times.
Gift of Sight Worldwide pays for corneal transplants for people who cannot afford them. It began in 2018 as Mission Gift of Sight, a project of the Rotary Club of Hoshiarpur Mid Town with the Rotary Club of Plano Metro in Texas.
How it started
The Hoshiarpur club saw how many people around it had lost their sight to corneal disease while a treatment existed that they could not afford, and started a project to close that gap. With support from Plano Metro the project grew, and it now aims for 300 transplants a year.
The hospitals
Guru Ka Langar Eye Hospital in Chandigarh provides a full-time cornea transplant surgeon, an operating theater and the doctors and staff around them, through Mr. Harjeet Singh Sabharwal. The hospital runs a “no cash counter”: treatment, surgery and medicines are free.
Dr. Shakeen’s Eye & Dental Hospital in Amritsar, where Dr. Shakeen Singh operates free of cost for patients in need.
Transplants have also been performed at Tricity Eye Hospital, Mohali, and Arora Eye Hospital & Retina Centre, Jalandhar, under agreements signed with the clubs.
Where the work reaches
Patients come from Punjab, where the work began, and from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir.
Why “Worldwide”
Corneal blindness is not only India’s problem: about 5.5 million people worldwide have lost sight in both eyes to corneal disease. The work is in northern India today. The name says where it means to go: anywhere a donated cornea, a surgeon and a sponsor can meet.
Supporting organizations
- Tony Robbins Foundation, USA
- Guru Ka Langar Eye Hospital, Sector 18-B, Chandigarh
- Tricity Eye Hospital, SAS Nagar, Mohali
- Dr. Shakeen’s Eye & Dental Hospital, Court Road, Amritsar
- Arora Eye Hospital & Retina Centre, Jalandhar
The project committee
Rtn. Manoj Ohri, Project Chairman, Rotary Club of Hoshiarpur Mid Town · P.P. Rtn. Sanjeev Khanna, International Chair, Rotary Club of Plano Metro.