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SANKARA
EYE FOUNDATION USA
3175 Arcola Ct
San Jose, CA 95148
1-866-SANKARA
SEF, USA is
a 501 (c)(3) registered non-profit organization and all
donations are tax exempt in the USA.
Tax id: 77-6141976
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Sankara Eye Society
and My Eye Opening Experience
By Shankar Sundar
At Sankara Eye Foundation, in the United
States, we are simply aware of the eye care problem that exists
in our native country. It isn’t until one visits the base
hospital in Coimbatore and partakes in its day-to-day operations
that one may truly understand the nature of the problem and
the potency of its solution. My seven days at Sankara Eye Society
opened my eyes up to the eye care revolution that is taking
place in Coimbatore and the compassion and dedication with which
care is readily given to needy patients.
The duality of Sankara Eye Society is, in one word, revolutionary.
Set in the peaceful outskirts of Coimbatore, this state-of-the-art
hospital caters to the needs of underprivileged people with
inimitable expertise and cutting edge technology. New patients
are found each week through the long-armed outreach programs
that scour all over Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry
looking for rural villagers in need of immediate eye care. Not
only does Coimbatore benefit from the services of this hospital,
but also the hundreds of villages within a 300 km radius. These
new patients are brought into Sankara Eye Hospital, where they
are put at ease by its homely and peaceful setting and instantaneously
enjoy the comforts (i.e. good food, clean beds, humane treatment)
that aren’t found so readily at other hospitals for non-paying
patients. These patients are then guided through the various
tests for surgical fitness by well-trained and able staff from
the beginning of their surgery process to the moment they lay
down upon the operating table. At this point, these disadvantaged
patients are operated on, using only the latest and most intricate
surgical techniques, by some of the most sure-handed ophthalmologic
surgeons in the world. While most hospitals, even the best of
the best, would finish the entire process after the surgery,
Sankara Eye Hospital takes it one step further by returning
to the patient’s village after a month and making sure
that no complications have developed.
A month ago, it seemed absurd to me that any hospital with the
capacity to do forty five thousand top-quality surgeries a year
would reach out to the poor rather than to the rich. Now, however,
I see that more state-of-the-art hospitals are needed to serve
the poorest of the poor in India. Nowhere, not even in the United
States, have I seen the symbiotic coexistence between the very
simple and the extremely complex that thrives here at Sankara
Eye Society.
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No
matter how advanced the facilities, the biggest assets of Sankara
Eye Hospital are most definitely the people that allow it to function.
From the expert surgeons that perform a surgery every two minutes
to the many maids that keep the hospital clean, the people at Sankara
Eye Society exude a dedication to the cause that parallels to a child’s
love for his mother. Upon spending three days at a rural camp with
doctors and staff, I can personally attest to this statement.
At Virudachalam, a camp with 2500 potential patients, three doctors
worked without a moment’s break for five straight hours diagnosing
maladies, prescribing medication, and answering patient questions
(even though many were misguided). In my eyes, that is the definition
of dedication. During the same camp, the 20 nurses attended to these
2500 patients with a factory-like efficiency, all the while retaining
the human touch by helping each patient through the many testing stations.
This is compassion. I don’t believe Sankara Eye Society would
be half as successful if the doctors, staff, and administrators didn’t
care about the cause or the patients that they cure, irregardless
of what equipment or training they were given. This dedication towards
eliminating blindness in India and the compassion towards their patients
is what makes the people of Sankara Eye Society the driving force
behind its success.
This blessed institution is truly one of the most amazing that I have
seen and I don’t see any reason why it won’t blossom in
the future and achieve its much publicized goal of 20/20 by the year
2020. I will continue to put forth my time at Sankara Eye Foundation;
now with even more commitment because I have seen what miracles we
are helping to bring to reality. I feel very privileged to have been
able to experience a full week at this hospital and hopefully my experience
will make others in the United States realize how much their help
is needed to eliminate the curable blindness from India for good.
I did not come here for an eye operation, but I am leaving with better
vision than I ever had before.
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