Seva Foundation
Seva is a global nonprofit eye care organization that works with local communities around the world to develop self-sustaining programs that preserve and restore sight.
“Your $50 donation restores sight with a 15-minute cataract surgery that changes someone’s life forever.”
We train local eye care providers and develop self-sustaining eye programs around the world. Together we provide critical eye care to underserved communities, especially women, children, and indigenous peoples. Seva has provided surgeries, eyeglasses, medicine, and other eye care services to 57 million people in more than 20 countries.
Seva believes that restoring sight is one of the most effective ways to relieve suffering and reduce poverty. Over a billion people live with unaddressed vision impairments and hundreds of millions more need ongoing eye care.
Thankfully, 90% of all vision impairment can be prevented or cured with your help.
In 1978, a remarkable conference of friends and colleagues gathered at the Waldenwoods Conference Center, near Ann Arbor, Michigan to consider this question: How could they be of service?
The answer turned out to be Seva Foundation.
Where does the name “Seva” come from?
Seva (pronounced Say-Va) is a Sanskrit word meaning “selfless service to others” and came to represent for us the dream of relieving suffering and reducing poverty in the most effective ways possible.
Seva Foundation started as a small group with a big idea, and the idea was this: To be fully human, we must translate our compassion and concern into useful service.
COMPASSION IN ACTION
Compassion is not just about helping those less fortunate than ourselves, it’s about the realization that we are all connected as one human family.
That sense of compassionate service motivates all of Seva’s work, as we build sight-saving programs that support people around the world in their efforts to build healthy communities.
Seva’s blindness-prevention programs, spanning many cultures and countries, share certain fundamental principles:
Serving the Underserved
Our eye care programs serve people who have been economically, politically, or otherwise marginalized. We work to gain an understanding of their various cultures and circumstances. Our aim is to build a bridge of compassion between our donors and the people we serve people around the world who have the fewest resources.
Promoting Sustainability
Seva’s programs foster self-reliance and aim to reduce dependence on outside assistance. In the communities where we work, we share skills and technology appropriate for local conditions, assist local decision-making, and help to support eye clinics and hospitals to become financially self-sufficient. This transfer of knowledge enables communities to care for their own, now and into the future.
Working Through Partnerships
We form long-term partnerships with those we serve. By developing close relationships with local eye care organizations and community leaders, we build trust, mutual respect and cultural understanding. We honor the ability of communities to define their own solutions to the challenges they face.
CONTACT US
MAIN OFFICE
Seva Foundation
1786 Fifth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
Phone
Local: 510-845-7382
Toll Free: 1-877-764-7382
Gifts of Sight: 1-800-223-7382
Fax: 510-809-3364
INTERNATIONAL OFFICES
Cambodia
Seva Foundation
Borey Rumchek, #104, Block E7-1, Street 10, Rumchek 4 village, Sangkat Ratanak,
Battambang City and Province, Cambodia
Nepal
Seva Foundation
Nepal Eye Hospital Compound
Netra Jyoti Bhawan
Tripureswor, Kathmandu Nepal
