SEFEU's goal is to bring vision 20/20 to the economically disadvantaged people all over India who suffer from curable blindness.

Over 45M people in India suffer from some form of visual handicap. Over 12M are blind that is 1/4th of the world's blind! These are incredibly large numbers and SEF's bold vision is to work towards eradicating this problem by building 20 super specialty eye care hospitals across India providing free eye care to the needy.

Typically (and fortunately), most people suffer from eye problems such as Cataract or Glaucoma which can be treated effectively. Unfortunately, in many parts of rural India, people do not know that this is curable nor do they have the resources available to get proper and timely medical attention. More than 80 percent of the blindness in India is curable.

SEFEU's strategy involves strengthening and expanding our already outstanding Outreach Program to all parts of India. As part of the rural outreach program, it is planned to build at least 20 base hospitals across India.

Rural outreach implies 'going to the economically disadvantaged people in rural areas who need the care and education' instead of waiting for them to come to a hospital or medical institution for eye care.

SEF works with its sister organization Sankara Eye Care Institutions (SECI) in India to drive our mission.

SECI is our sister organization and part of the larger trust called the Kanchi Kamakoti Medical Trust. This trust operates under the auspices of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt under the guidance of the acharyas.

SECI was founded in 1977 by Dr. Ramani and his wife Dr. Radha Ramani in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

India is very fortunate in that many institutions are helping eradicate curable blindness. However, the problem in India, which has an estimated 45M people with curable blindness, requires a lot more work to solve this problem.

We recognize there are several ways people can contribute to bettering the lives of economically disadvantaged people in India. There are several wonderful charitable organizations working on these causes as well. We believe that given the seriousness of the problem and the opportunity of putting people back to work and on their way to independent living is very meaningful to the community. And of course, the ability to observe the impact within a meaningful amount of time is an added bonus!

As of March 1, 2013:
15094 camps conducted
1,000,325 free surgeries performed
2,737,096 patients screened

Several camps every week!!! Not a single week has gone by without an eye camp.

All our Hospitals will provide the advanced and highest quality eye care to attract paying patients also. With a Free-vs.-Paid patient ratio of 70:30 (may vary slightly from state to state), we believe every Sankara Hospital will attain self-sufficiency within 3 to 5 years.

You can donate for Capital Funds for the construction and update of various hospitals: Guntur, Bangalore, Shimoga, Anand and Punjab. Now we are also collecting funds for Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan ' our next new projects.

You can choose to donate for specific hospital construction projects ' Please check our website for latest opportunities. But if donating for surgeries, we leave it to the Hospitals in India to use the funds where they are needed the most.

You can donate towards a Ward, Room, and recognition on the 'Wall of Founders' at the new Hospital. For hospitals beyond Rajasthan, we also need support in acquiring the land. You can also volunteer to further this cause.

Open an eye a month with GBP 15/month. You also have the option to sign up for automatic monthly direct-debit from your checking-account. Of course, you can signup to donate any amount - either towards surgery or new Hospital construction ' on monthly basis.

Every donation, regardless of the amount, will be acknowledged with a receipt by mail, in about 3 to 4 weeks. For surgical donations, we also send the donors a certificate with information about date of surgery and the name of the needy patient, the beneficiary.