This year seems to have flown by! There have been so many highlights, changes, milestones and exciting events but one thing has remained unchanged: our unwavering commitment blindness treatment, prevention and education around the world.
We have compiled a snapshot of highlights from each month to remind us of the diverse and exceptional year and we'd love to share the highlights of 2018 with you, our supporter who made all these happen.
We refreshed our Mission and Vision statements to reflect the full scope of our work.
Additionally we launched our new tagline, “changing the way the world sees” to capture our innovative and pioneering spirit.
Click here to see the launch video.
Orbis Singapore held a gala in February to celebrate Orbis's work in Southeast Asia. More than 300 executives from corporate supporters like BOC Aviation, Boeing, Clifford Chance and SATS attended the gala. Click here to read more about the evening.
We celebrated Orbis Day on March 26th, 2018 around the world in our own unique and creative ways!
In Singapore, we invited volunteers and supporters to a BBQ at Labrador Park on 23 March. Click here to watch the evening's highlights.
The Flying Eye Hospital visited Trujillo, Peru for the sixth time. Thanks to the generous support of Collins Aerospace, Orbis launched the Mobile Simulation Center. For the first time we conducted simulation training on board during the first week of the project. The new simulation center and training program combined the latest in simulation technology, virtual reality, and scientific, surgical and medical knowledge. It allows local ophthalmic teams to learn and practice complex surgical skills in a controlled environment before operating on patients.
We also piloted a new patient record system where charts where uploaded onto Cybersight and unique identification numbers were generated for each patient further protecting patient confidentiality.
Orbis Africa premiered the exciting educational film they produced, titled Meresa Biom (Dancing Again) in Kumasi, Ghana. The film is an an innovative tool for social change and was rolled out during May with the aim to reduce preventable and treatable blindness and visual impairment in the country by changing the way communities access eye health services.
Additionally Orbis Africa, in partnership with Ghana Health Services, equipped healthcare officials to take the film into their communities to bring about social change and raise awareness around eye health. The project is funded by Standard Chartered Bank’s Seeing is Believing (SiB) initiative. Click here to find out more.
Orbis Ethiopia celebrates a momentous milestone as the Eye Bank turned 15 years old. It is only the second such facility in Africa, at the time it was set up, there were no cornea transplant surgeons in Ethiopia and now there are nine. To date 1818 corneal transplants have taken place because of the Eye Bank. Click here to read more.
The 15th anniversary of the Eye Bank also marked the kick off of the 20th Anniversary celebrations!
We were incredibly proud to have facilitated our first ever live video consultation via Cybersight. One of our amazing Volunteer Faculty, Dr. Daniel Neely, held a live video consultation with a doctor in Syria, showing that technology can help us have an impact in places we would not otherwise be able to reach.
Dr. Neely discussed four complex cases with Dr. Wael Hamoudeh from Almouassat University Hospital in Damascus, which continues to operate despite ongoing conflict. Dr. Hamoudeh has been an avid participant in Cybersight, submitting consult cases, taking courses and attending live webinars. Technology truly is breaking barriers!
The Flying Eye Hospital was in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for three weeks from 12 August to 31 August.
The national ophthalmic training program focused on both adult and pediatric subspecialty training including pediatric cataract, oculoplastic, strabismus, retinopathy of prematurity and refractive error in partnership with the National Center for Maternal and Child Health, while the adult curriculum focused on adult cataract, glaucoma and retina diseases with the First Central Hospital.
Orbis partnered with Artificial Intelligence (AI) software developers, Visulytix to integrate their leading-edge technology to diagnose eye conditions into Cybersight. Their Pegasus system brings sophisticated technology to help eye doctors diagnose eye diseases in low-resource countries. It aids clinicians in the detection and diagnosis of serious eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. Click here to read more.
October marked the culmination of our Ethiopia 20th Anniversary celebrations. The Flying Eye Hospital conducted its fifth clinical project in the capital. We hosted a truly memorable celebration party to thank our partners, collaborators, staff and donors in Addis Ababa. The team was in country during World Sight Day and we launched the Giving Tree book in Amharic for children of Ethiopia to enjoy and learn from. Click here to read all about our celebrations.
In Singapore, Orbis held a mass blindfold luncheon for more than 200 guests who experienced how it's like to walk and eat without their sight. Click here to read more about the event.
The Hong Kong team hosted with annual Moonwalk on November 10. Over 4,300 participants joined Orbis and set off in the dark on the all night 20km walk in and around Hong Kong. Walkers braved the elements and raising nearly HK$4,200,000 (USD534,000) by the end of their six-hour walk, finishing in the early hours of November 11.
Click here to read more and see the video capturing all the fun!
This season of giving, why not give the gift of sight to someone who needs it?
Click here to view Orbis Singapore's 12 days of Christmas catalogue.
This has been a truly impactful year and we thank everyone in the Orbis family from the four corners of the globe for all their efforts! Together we really have changed the way the world sees!
