Fundraising Newsletter August 2011

Vision Bangladesh

Project on track to eradicate avoidable blindness across SylhetSince January 2011, Vision Bangladesh has been scaling up across Sylhet Division to achieve its target of eradicating avoidable blindness by 2013 and completing 100,000 cataract operations. In the fi rst six months of 2011, more than 14,000 cataract cases were successfully treated by BRAC and Sightsaver’s hospital partners.

“Every single week, we are organising more than six hundred operations for people blinded by cataracts. Our fi eld data shows that we are ahead of schedule in achieving the targets for 2011 – to deliver 30,000 operations.” said Faruque Ahmed, Director of BRAC Health Programme.

Patients are identifi ed through extensive outreach activities that have so far screened more than 135,000 vulnerable, poor people through eye camps, hospitals, household visits by BRAC health volunteers, and community health forums. This is supported by an innovative eye health campaign on the importance of eye screening and raising awareness on eye conditions.

Our medical partners are trusted specialised eye hospitals serving the most vulnerable members of society: VARD eye hospitals in Sylhet and Sunamganj, Bangladesh National Society for the Blind (BNSB) in Maulvibazar, and Jalalabad Eye Care Society in Sylhet.

Field updateVision Bangladesh ahead of schedule for 2011

Sofatunnessa (60) used to earn BDT 200 per day from her handicraft business until she went completely blind from cataracts three years ago. Since having two cataract operations, her sight is completely restored and she is back at work again. (Adarshagram, Khadimpara, Sylhet)

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BRAC health volunteer Rafi qunnessa conducts a vision test for refractive error at a health forum meeting at Umednagar village in Habiganj, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh.

BRAC gave me the opportunity to see again. I always pray for them Sofatunnessa

Channel S TelethonThe popular British-Bangladesh TV station, Channel S, hosted a mini-telethon for Vision Bangladesh in May that attracted a viewing audience of up to 500,000 people.

Popular anchor and human rights lawyer, Anawar Babul, was the host presenter for the night. Guests included: Councillor Rania Khan (independent for Bromley and Tower Hamlets Council), Yawar Khan (President of the Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers), S. Faruque (former chairman of the BBCC) and Athaur Rahman (Community Youth leader).

“It is an absolute delight to be able to participate in fundraising for Vision Bangladesh. This initiative will give 100,000 people, the most vulnerable in the Sylhet region, an opportunity to see, support their families and to be able to live again. It is a true pleasure to be part of this great cause” Councillor Rania Khan

The evening was such a success it had to be extended for an extra hour to cope with the demand from callers. Donations came from all over the country and ranged from a very generous £2,000 donation from a new community charity in Oldham to a young child donating his pocket money.

The telethon was the culmination of a three month advertising campaign that raised significant public support for Vision Bangladesh and inspired people to donate £20 for the cost of one operation for a poor blind person in Sylhet.

People who rang up to donate said:

“It is incredible that for just £20 you can achieve so much for one person. When I saw the advert, I had to donate.” Anonymous donor

BRAC UK is now working with the British Bangladesh TV channels on a major fundraising appeal during Ramadan.

Events gallery

People giving generously to Vision Bangladesh at Baishakhi Mela

BRAC UK volunteers won ‘team of the tournament’ at Oxford’s Nowka Bais (Bangladeshi Boat Race) in July to raise awareness about Vision Bangladesh

Channel S hosts Vision Bangladesh fundraising telethon with presenter Anawar Babul (centre)

Vision Bangladesh was proud to be the official charity for this year’s Baishakhi Mela in Tower Hamlets

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Baishakhi MelaVision Bangladesh was proud to be the official charity for this year’s Baishakhi Mela in Tower Hamlets – the biggest London festival after the Notting Hill Carnival. The event celebrates Bengali New Year and attracted crowds of more than 120,000 people for seven hours of entertainment on a festival stage and a vibrant market offering Bangladeshi food, fashion and culture.

BRAC UK organised a team of fifty dedicated volunteers, predominately from the British-Bangladesh communities, who collected donations for Vision Bangladesh on the day.

BRAC also had an information stand to raise awareness about the devastating impact avoidable blindness can have on a poor person’s life. A free prize raffle of a dinner for four was generously donated by Ismail Hossain, owner of the sophisticated Kolapata restaurant in Whitechapel.

Future Events Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairperson of BRAC, will be chief guest at a press launch on July 24th for ‘£1 on the Bill’ campaign in the UK. He will be joined by national champion, Aziz Rahman, owner of award winning Aziz restaurants in Oxford, and regional champions for the scheme who are targeting 300 restaurants to raise £300,000 for Vision Bangladesh in September and October.

Each participating restaurant will be provided with promotional materials and the mechanism for collecting one pound on every table bill with customers being able to opt out if they prefer.

Regions from across the UK who will be participating include : Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Buckinghamshire, Cardiff, Chippenham, Dundee, Edinburgh, Epsom, Farringdon, Findon, Hampshire, Luton, Manchester, Newbury, Newcastle, Reading, Salisbury, Sheffield, Surrey, Southampton, Whitley and Yorkshire.

If you own or manage a restaurant and want to participate in ‘£1 on the bill’, please email: tanhah@bracuk.net.

BRAC UK volunteers collecting public donations at the Baishakhi Mela (from left to right) Atika Zahra and Shaikha Mohammed

BRAC and Sightsavers press launch for Vision Bangladesh in Dhaka attended by (from left to right)

Prof. Dr. Khondhaker Md. Shefyetullah, Director General-Directorate General of Health Services, Dr Mahabub Hossain, Executive Director of BRAC, Prof. Deen Mohd. Noorul Huq, Line Director-National Eye Care & Director-NIO&H, Dr Caroline Harper, CEO, Sightsavers, Dr Wahidul Islam, Country Director of Sightsavers Bangladesh, Prof. Dr. A.F.M Ruhal Haque MP, Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.©

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The Gift of SightFarid was a poor landless labourer with a family of nine depending on him when he began losing his sight in both eyes to cataracts two years ago.

“I was so upset. I could not earn at all. My neighbours helped me to support my family. I could not see to even walk down the road or recognise people. The hospital told me I needed an operation but it was really expensive.”

In March 2011, Farid was referred by a BRAC health volunteer – Bela Rani – to the Vision Bangladesh eye screening camp. From there, it took less than three days for him to be properly examined, diagnosed, and admitted to VARD eye hospital to undergo the necessary sight restoring operations. Afterwards, he received follow-up visits from the health volunteer to check on post-operation progress and was prescribed free glasses to correct a small problem with near sight. Vision Bangladesh paid for all the costs thanks to generous donations from the public in the UK.

Today, he is back at work and able to support his family again.

In the next three years, Vision Bangladesh will be screening one million poor people from across Sylhet to identify those most in need of sight restoring operations and eye treatments. Thank you for your continued support.

I feel newly born and see the world with new eyes Farid Uddin (45)Tengra village, Dorbost Union, Jointapur, Sylhet Division

Sightsavers Registered Charity Number / Reference: England, Wales and Northern Ireland: 207544. Scotland: SC038110 BRAC UK Registered Charity Number: 1115482

For more information on how to support Vision Bangladesh, and organise a fundraiser in your area, please email: tanhah@bracuk.net

About Vision Bangladesh

Help restore sight to vulnerable poor people in BangladeshVision Bangladesh is a groundbreaking partnership between BRAC and Sightsavers – two highly respected international charities.

Our aim is to eradicate 80% of blindness in Sylhet by 2013 and across the whole of Bangladesh by 2020.

For more than 600,000 adults and 40,000 children, it is still not too late to have their sight restored and be given the opportunity to lead independent lives.

To realise this ambitious, but achievable task, we need to raise £3 million to perform 100,000 sight restoring operations in the division of Sylhet by 2013.

A simple 20 minute operation, costing only £20, can change a person’s life forever.

We can only achieve this with generous public donations.

How to donateDonate online at:www.brac.net/visionbangladesh

Phone donations:+ 44 (0) 20 7922 7723

Cheque donations can be sent to:

BRAC UK, Vision Bangladesh Appeal, 32-36 Loman Street, SE1 0EHPlease make cheques payable to: BRAC UK – Vision Bangladesh

Bank transfers/payments to: Account name: BRAC UK – Vision BangladeshAccount No. 62036991, Sort Code 40 07 13 (HSBC)

Donate by TextYou can now support Vision Bangladesh in a matter of seconds

Simply text BRAC20 and the amount you wish to donate, (either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070(e.g. your text could read BRAC20 £10)

No network charges apply. Your mobile allowance will not be affected.

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