Twenty-five years ago, a group of doctors, visionaries and entertainers created the Seva Foundation, hoping to make the world a little bit better.
This is our report.
The Seva Foundation 25 Years of Service Since 1978 your donations of more than $60 million have helped…
Two million blind people see again, through operations performed by Seva partners in India, Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia and Tanzania…
Thousands of Indigenous People in Guatemala and Chiapas deliver healthy babies, drink clean water and learn to read and write…
Native American communities throughout the United States reclaim their health and culture.
Thank you.
Our thanks to an anonymous and generous donor for underwriting the full cost of this publication. Not a single dollar was diverted from our programs to produce this report. Seeing and Believing 25 Years of Service Executive Director’s Greetings
DEAR FRIENDS OF SEVA,
One-quarter century ago, my wife and I wrote an article about our life in a Himalayan monastery and our work for the World Health Organization eradicating smallpox in Asia. We concluded “Death for a Killer Disease” with an appeal for support of international health programs in places where life is brutal, death comes early, and helpless parents watch their children sicken, die or go blind from diseases that should hold no mystery for modern public health. Readers were moved and mailed us money.We called a meeting of friends and colleagues to discuss how to best use this windfall and agreed to form an international health organization. I wanted to call the new organization “Seva” because that Sanskrit word means “Divine Work” or “Service to God.” We were shy about such a lofty name at first, so we hedged our bets with a double entendre and called ourselves: “S.E.V.A.: Society for Epidemiology and Voluntary Assistance.” Influenced by the many cases of smallpox-caused blindness we had seen in India and by the zeal of Drs. Nicole Grasset and G. Venkataswamy, we decided that blindness prevention and cure would be our first project. Since then, Seva has been supporting projects and hospitals that have given back sight to more than two million blind through low cost or free surgery and public health ophthalmology. But we’ve also grown to include diabetes prevention in Native American communities, where diabetes-caused mortality rates are four times the national average. And in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala, our community self development programs have helped thousands of Indigenous Peoples to drink clean water, read, write and deliver healthier babies. Today, after 25 years of service, it is time to make a report to the Seva community of workers, donors and friends.What you have in your hands is that report, paid for entirely by one very kind anonymous donor who wanted to make sure the Seva story did not go untold. It is a story that still moves me, and a story that brought me back as acting executive director to help take Seva to the next level. As you look through these inspiring pages, I invite you to not only share the satisfaction in 25 years of service, but also to join with me as a co-conspirator for the years of service to come: to plan, fund, and implement the next 25 years of Seva.
With much love,
Larry Brilliant, MD, MPH Co-founder and acting Executive Director 2 | Seva Foundation Seva Foundation Guiding Principles
WE AFFIRM | both the rational and the intuitive in all our work.
WE RESPECT | the spiritual and cultural roots of individuals and communities in helping them to create sustainable solutions.
WE SEEK | long-term solutions that will support economic independence while remaining committed to methods that are environmentally sound.
WE PROMOTE | solutions to problems that come from within individuals and communities. This principle is inherent in Seva’s concept of self-reliance.
WE LISTEN | attentively to the people with whom we work and to each other. This kind of listening deepens intercultural understanding, allows lasting relationships to develop, and brings wholeness to our work.
WE ARE | flexible in responding to the changing needs and conditions of the people and programs we help.
WE FOLLOW |their lead in establishing goals and setting schedules. Basic Human Needs (a Song for One String by Wavy Gravy)
Wouldn’t it be neat Not just churches, If the people that you meet not just steeples had shoes upon their feet give me people helping people. and something to eat? Help yourself and work out And wouldn’t it be fine ‘til the stars begin to shout if all humankind thank god for something to do. had shelter. What a great day it would be Chorus (Repeat after each verse): if everyone could see Basic Human Needs and no one was blind unnecessarily Basic Human Deeds ‘cuz its hard yes, it’s hard to be blind Doin’ What Comes Naturally. (and disabled). Down in the Garden Where No One Is Apart Wouldn’t it be fun Deep Down in the Garden if the shine down from the sun The Garden of Your Heart. could power everyone? And uranium slept forever in the ground. Wouldn’t it be grand if we all lent a hand Wouldn’t it be daring so each one could stand if folks started sharing on a free piece of land? instead of comparing And wouldn’t it be thrilling what each other was wearing? If folks stopped their killing And wouldn’t it be swell And started in tilling the land? if people didn’t sell their mother Earth.
Lyrics by: Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy and Ram Dass Seva’s Evolving Vision FOR INTERNATIONAL HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT
eva supports people around the world in their efforts to build healthy Scommunities. Seva’s programs, spanning many cultures and countries, share certain fundamental principles: Serving the Under-served: Our programs serve people who have been economically, politically, or otherwise marginalized. We change our program approach to relate to their culture and circumstances – reaching out in very different ways to nomads in Tibet, women in Tanzania or Indigenous Peoples in Mission Guatemala. Our aim is to bridge the gap between our donors and people STATEMENT around the world who have the fewest resources. Building Healthy Communities: Seva embraces an expanded concept of health, recognizing that spiritual and cultural renewal, economic self-sufficiency, and basic civil and human rights are as important to well-being as a visit to Seva builds the doctor. Promoting Sustainability: partnerships Seva’s programs foster self- reliance and aim to reduce dependence on outside assis- to respond to tance. In the communities where we work, we share skills locally defined and technology appropriate for local conditions, assist local decision-making, and help problems with launch projects that will become financially self-sufficient. This transfer of knowledge enables culturally communities to care for their own, now and into the future. sustainable Working Through Partnerships: Seva forms long-term partnerships with those we serve. By developing close solutions. relationships with local organizations and community leaders, we build trust, mutual respect, and cultural understanding. We honor the ability of communities to define their own needs and devise their own solutions to the challenges they face.
25 Years of Service | 3 Sight Programs 25 Years of Innovation in Blindness Prevention
or twenty-five years, Seva has developed innovative, sustainable eye care programs to prevent blindness and restore sight to people around the world. With its early partners in Nepal and India, Seva created a Fhighly successful, high-volume approach to providing quality eye care in developing countries. In 1981, Seva’s team of Drs. Larry and Girija Brilliant and Dr. Suzanne Gilbert spearheaded the Nepal Blindness Survey – the first such study to document the causes and prevalence of blindness in a developing country. Seva also pioneered the use of affordable medical supplies in modern eye surgery,enabling even the poorest patients to receive sight-saving care.
In recent years, Seva’s blindness prevention work has expanded through new eye care partnerships in Tibet, Cambodia, North India and Tanzania. Seva helped provide clinical training to thousands of local eye care workers, and supports centers of training in India, Nepal and Tibet. In addition, Seva plays an active role in Vision 2020: the Right to Sight – a global initiative to save 100 million people from going blind during the next twenty years.
Looking ahead, Seva will devote increasing energy and resources to eye care for women and children. Each year, a staggering number of children go blind – every minute a child somewhere in the world loses sight. The majority of blind children die within a few years of becoming blind, usually from the condition that caused the blindness. To launch our child vision initiative, Seva is funding a program in South India, working with 45,000 children to gather critically needed data on childhood blindness.
Women are at the greatest risk of blindness. Expected to take care of family needs before their own, women are the last to receive the eye care services they need and all too often lose their sight to preventable causes. Seva addresses women and children’s eye care needs through programs that integrate eye care into primary health care, promote school screening, provide education and outreach, and train eye care workers in the special needs of women and children.
4 | Seva Foundation Dr. G. Venkataswamy, MD INDIA Dr.V is a n 1976, Dr. G.Venkataswamy turned his founding former home in Madurai, India into an board member I11-bed hospital. Now the largest eye care of the Seva institution in the world, Aravind provides over Foundation and 200,000 cataract surgeries and more than a founder of Aravind million eye exams each year.Aravind gives high- Eye Hospitals in India. quality, affordable, community-oriented eye care For four decades, he has to all. Its innovative financial structure allows fees dedicated himself to the fight from one-third of paying patients to subsidize serv- ices for the two-thirds who cannot afford the costs. against blindness. He pioneered eye camps as a model for blind- In addition to supporting the hospital, Seva helped Aravind ness prevention and treatment, establish an institute that now trains doctors, hospital admin- and personally performed over istrators, and other eye care specialists from all over India and 100,000 successful eye surgeries. other parts of Asia and Africa. Seva continues to send experts to Under his leadership, Aravind has strengthen and expand the range of services and courses offered by grown into a network of five eye Aravind. Seva also arranged the transfer of technology that enabled Aravind to establish a manufacturing unit, Aurolab, which makes eye care hospitals and an international supplies affordable to eye care programs in over eighty countries. community ophthalmology training institute. Dr.V has In North India, Seva recently initiated a partnership with the Sadguru Netra received numerous international Chikitsalaya Eye Hospital in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh State, where training is awards for his remarkable focused on microsurgical techniques, expanding outreach services, and improv- lifetime of service to humanity. ing refraction facilities. In one year, with Seva’s assistance, the hospital increased He remains a guiding force on the number of cataract surgeries, improved the quality of its surgery, and increased the number of paying patients. Working in partnership, Seva and the the Seva Advisory Board where Aravind Eye Care System are helping this 300-bed hospital develop into a tech- he continues to inspire us with his nological center of excellence for eye care for northern India. vision of a world free of blindness.
25 Years of Service | 5 Amar Deuja, MD NEPAL
Dr. Amar Deuja ince 1978, Seva’s partnership with the is Director of Government of Nepal, the World Health Lumbini Rana- S Organization and a dozen international Ambika Eye organizations has helped create one of the most Hospital in Nepal, comprehensive eye care programs in the world. which was founded Initiated by Dr. Nicole Grassett, a Seva founder and in 1985 by Seva and its leader in smallpox eradication efforts in Asia, the partner, NNJS, in the populous program broke ground in 1981 with a comprehen- Lumbini Zone.The program has sive survey of blindness. Among the study’s land- mark findings: cataract, and not an infectious grown to become self-sufficient disease, was the leading cause of blindness in Nepal. financially and now includes the base hospital, six rural clinics, and Growing from 1,000 cataract surgeries in 1978, Nepal’s eye centers now provide more than 100,000 surgeries and more than 850,000 outpatient services annually. Seva continues to work primarily through support of the Nepal Eye Health Education Unit, which provides training programs for primary health care workers, pharmaceutical retailers, female community health care volunteers, and traditional healers throughout Nepal.
In addition to the national program, Seva established and supported an eye hospital in the populous Lumbini Zone of Nepal. Since 1985, this program has become one of the most successful models of high-volume quality eye care, providing over 25,000 cataract surgeries and serving over 200,000 patients a year. Its fee structure, developed by Seva, enabled the program to become self-sufficient within a year, with a small proportion of paying patients covering the costs of those who are indigent. an active community program. Under Dr. Deuja’s guidance and with Seva’s support, the Lumbini hospital is establishing a rural training institute for all levels of ophthalmologists, allied eye health professionals, managers, and other eye care workers.The hospital currently performs over 25,000 eye surgeries per year.
6 | Seva Foundation TIBET Chundak Tenzing, MD, MPH Newly named ibet has one of the highest the Medical rates of blindness in the T world, caused mostly by Officer for Seva’s cataract. Providing adequate eye care sight programs, to Tibet’s impoverished and widely Dr. Chundak dispersed population is a real Tenzing has been challenge. For seven years, Seva has a driving force behind been working with the Tibet Seva’s program expansion from Development Fund, the Public Nepal into Tibet. An ophthalmol- Health Bureau and hospitals and ogist of Tibetan origin and a doctors throughout the region. Nepali national, he brings the Through these partnerships, 10,000 people have received eye care. Seva has also expertise of a cornea specialist to trained local cataract surgical teams and supported 25 eye camps. our work and is well regarded for Our overall goal in Tibet is to build a sustainable, affordable eye care infrastruc- his surgical skills. As a trainer ture that is available to everyone. The results of the first-ever blindness survey, and a program planner, he is a supported by Seva, are being used to develop an eye care program to address visionary, and has stewarded the the most urgent needs of Tibetans. expansion of Seva’s projects. In 2002, Seva sponsored a historic eye care planning workshop in Lhasa – Dr.Tenzing has just completed a the first of its kind in Tibet – with eye care personnel from throughout the Masters Degree at Johns Hopkins country. The resulting ten-year cataract blindness prevention plan calls for School of Public Health. He is developing an eye care system, increasing the number of patients – especially also a gifted poet, inspired by women and children – and facilitating greater communication among eye care his life’s work. workers. Seva’s model program will screen and treat patients, and provide optical services or referrals to other specialized eye care programs.
25 Years of Service | 7 Paul Courtright, DrPH, MPH TANZANIA Dr. Paul Courtright frica has the most has collaborated significant gap in eye with Seva for ten A care of any continent years, most of this in the world. There are not time as the director of enough eye doctors to meet the the British Columbia need for eye care and treatment. Centre for Epidemiologic Training of skilled local staff is the & International Ophthalmology. only solution. Seva is responding The Centre designed The Tibet Eye by helping to establish the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Care Assessment, which provided vital Ophthalmology – a rural training information for Seva’s work in Tibet. center for eye doctors and community When Dr. Courtright and his wife, workers in Tanzania that will serve the Dr. Susan Lewallen, decided to return East Africa region. With support from to Africa to establish a center for Seva, the center has begun training of community ophthalmology, Seva ophthalmology residents, nurses, and med- was one of the first organizations they ical officers and will expand its community- turned to for support in addressing based programs. It is also reaching out to the blindness prevention needs on women, who are most at risk of blindness the continent.They now direct the because they do not have access to care. Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Reducing blindness will continue to be a huge Ophthalmology at Tumaini University challenge in Africa for many years, due to the short- in Moshi,Tanzania. age of trained personnel, lack of eye care systems, an aging population and barriers to access.The overall goal of Seva's work in Tanzania is to create an African model of training that will prepare eye health workers not only to provide quality care but also to address these obstacles.
8 | Seva Foundation P. Balakrishnan, Ph.D. P. Balakrishnan, Ph.D. is the Managing Director of Aurolab, an Indian non-profit established with Seva’s help. Over the years, Seva has facilitated several technology transfers to Aurolab that have enabled it to produce intra-ocular lenses (IOLs), sutures, and other supplies. Aurolab’s pricing has also created a downward shift in the cost of IOLs by other manufac- turers selling in developing countries, making quality cataract surgery more CAMBODIA generally affordable. Aurolab, under Dr. Balakrishnan’s leadership, has ith over 225,000 blind people and only four trained ophthal- received international acclaim for mologists, Cambodia desperately needs more qualified eye care its accomplishment in bringing Wworkers. For four years, Seva has been working with the affordable and greatly needed Cambodian National Eye Care Program to sponsor activities that promote medical technology to poor people eye health. We have provided basic training for eye doctors and initiated a in developing countries. blindness survey in Battambang and Siem Reap, which were major areas of Khmer Rouge violence under Pol Pot. In addition, Seva is sponsoring three Cambodian doctors for ophthalmology training; they will complete their studies and return to practice in Cambodia in 2005. Seva has also provided fellowships for medical personnel to study quality eye care services in Nepal and India.
Soon, Seva will train eye care professionals who will assume leadership roles at the National Training Institute for Ophthalmology. With our in-country partners, we will expand child sight programs in the under-served north- west region of Cambodia. The establishment of a pediatric eye clinic at a local children’s hospital and launch of child eye education programs are also being planned. And by 2008, Seva-sponsored optical shops will dispense eyeglasses.With long-term partners in Nepal, India and Canada, Seva will play a significant role in addressing the eye care needs of one of the world’s poorest countries.
25 Years of Service | 9 Community Self-Development Guatemala/Chiapas
or seventeen years, Seva has supported the Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico, helping these communities address the causes and effects of poverty, exclusion, and injustice. Seva Ffirst became involved in Latin America by providing assistance to the Guatemalan refugees in Chiapas and Campeche who fled the violence of the 1980’s. Struggling for basic survival, refugees received water, food and shelter through Seva support. During the peace process, Seva volunteers and staff accompanied the first refugee communities on their return to Guatemala, maintained a continual presence for their security, and assisted them in the arduous task of rebuilding their communities.
This year, Seva changed the name of its Chiapas-Guatemala program to “Community Self-Development” (CSD) to reflect the program’s core work and position it for regional expansion in the coming years. “Self-development” means that the community organization defines, directs and oversees its projects, with Seva providing resources and training. In keeping with our broad vision of community health, Seva not only trains health workers, it also helps the community address the vital issues of cultural survival, economic sustainability, and environmental protection.
“It is very important for us to have a relationship like the one
Oxlaju has with Seva. Seva understands our needs today
and helps us meet our own needs for the future. The
recovery of Maya Q’eqchi’ culture instills pride in our youth
today and forever.”
Mariano Poob Cuz, Program Partner, Guatemala
10 | Seva Foundation Alejandra Alvarez
In 1986, Alejandra Alvarez began her work with Guatemalan refugees in Chiapas, helping them market their crafts in the
Alejandra Alvarez (right) European Union. with Sarah Vaill She also helped develop a support program that provided education, health care, housing, and nutrition for children and nursing mothers. Her family background, a blend of Indigenous and European, help inspire her long-term commitment to indigenous communities that face over- whelming economic difficulties and political oppression. “I’ve learned to travel between To equip the community to address these issues, Seva prepares its leaders. two worlds and am learning to These are poor and frequently illiterate farmers who may walk six hours to see myself for what I am: a receive training in representing their communities and securing funding mixture, someone who had to for their projects. Seva guides the community in creating an organizational learn her own identity and in the structure and planning process and funds selected projects. For most process support her people. communities, the highest priorities are projects to build potable water Their struggle also involves the systems, train health promoters and midwives, build schools and roads, need, not often expressed in organize and educate women and girls, establish weaving cooperatives, and words, to be themselves and preserve culture and tradition. regain their pride and identity as members of their own – nearly In 1998, Seva began a five-year process of working directly with the Maya destroyed – culture.” Q’eqchi’ people of the Petén region of Guatemala. One example of Seva’s success is Oxlajú, the leading Q’eqchi’ association of the Petén. Oxlajú has responded to community needs for potable water systems, land legalization processes, training for health promoters and midwives, and many other community projects.
25 Years of Service | 11 Seva works with groups that specifically promote and assist indigenous women. “Seva provides Participants attend workshops to build self-esteem and humanitarian services to learn about women’s rights, domestic violence, and in some of the poorest micro-enterprise projects. Empowered by these new areas of the world with ideas and skills, these women are increasingly becoming the commitment of leaders and decision makers in their communities. caring, compassion and In the coming years, the competence.” Community Self-Development Program plans to expand its Larry Schwab, MD, services for community organ- Author of “Eye Care in izations and broaden its work Developing Nations” to include projects in other parts of southern Mexico and Guatemala. Seva’s approach brings lasting changes to the lives of indigenous communi- ties in their struggle to survive.
12 | Seva Foundation Seva: Seeing and Believing 25 YEARS 1978 Seva Foundation files Articles of Incorporation “to fund, develop or twenty-five years Seva has been helping to restore sight to and administer projects and activities in developing countries and millions in Asia and supporting programs that reclaim and sustain the U.S. for eradication and control of epidemic and endemic F millions in Asia and supporting programs that reclaim and sustain diseases, and the general improvement of health as defined by indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. Looking back at the the World Health Organization (WHO).” faces, programs and events, we feel a deep sense of gratitude to each 1979 Founding Board Meeting, Waldenwoods, Michigan. of you. Through your support, you have shaped Seva’s growth and 1980 Seva initiates and conducts WHO Nepal blindness program, the helped it reach out in service to people around the world. first-ever national survey of blindness in Nepal. 1981 April 25 - “Sing Out for Seva” concert organized and hosted by We are proud to share Seva’s history and eager to forge its future. Wavy Gravy with Country Joe McDonald, Kate Wolf, Rosalie Please join us for the next twenty-five years of service and adventure. Sorrels, Odetta and members of the Grateful Dead • Native American seed grant to Women of All Red Nations (WARN) in South Dakota 1982 Seva Service Society incorporated in Vancouver 1983 Groundbreaking Nepal Blindness Survey completed • First grant to Chiapas for Guatemalan refugees • First “Eye Ball” fundraising event • Free ward funded at Aravind satellite hospital 1984 Seva begins to pay salary for Dr. Dhital and purchase medicines for Lumbini Eye Care program • Supports development of community health clinic on Cheyenne River Reservation 1985 “Cowboys for Indians” concert – proceeds to WARN • Guatemala refugee relief • Ram Dass “Celebrating Spirit Through Service” tour #1 heralds the first sign-up for local Seva groups 1986 Gifts of Service catalog initiated • Groundbreaking of Brotherhood Clinic on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota 1988 Brotherhood Community Clinic completed • Aravind operates 3 hospitals with 1200 beds 1992 “Blues Against Blindness” concert • Aurolab intraocluar lens (IOLs) used in cataract implant surgeries • Esalen Institute Music Festival to benefit Seva Native American projects 1993 Alianza invites Seva to accompany first group of Guatemalans returning home from Mexico • “Musical Reunion of Old Friends” with Crosby, Stills and Nash • Lumbini Hospital, with 75 beds, FOUNDING MEMBER opens in Nepal Ram Dass 1994 First Jaguar volunteers accompany Guatemalan refugees, Lumbini A founding Eye Care Program revenue exceeds operating expenses. member of 1995 Blindness program into Tibet initiated by Seva with the Tibet Seva and Development Fund • Eye camp conducted in Dharmasala, India active on its with Tibetan Delek Hospital staff and blessings of His Holiness Board until the Dalai Lama 1994, Ram Dass 1996 Native American diabetes project initiated with seed funds from has been spiritual Foundation for Dreamers • “Summit on Ethics and Meaning” co-sponsored in Washington, DC friend, advisor, and teacher to many in the 1998 National Institutes of Nursing Health award five-year grant to greater Seva family, includ- Native American Diabetes Talking Circles • “Sing Out for Seva” concert • Oxlaju, Guatemala funding commences ing tens of thousands who heard him during his marathon 1999 Comprehensive survey of blindness conducted in Tibet • Cambodia sight program initiated cross-country Seva benefit tours. Exploring the relationship 2000 Oxlaju completes three water systems in the Petén region between service and spirit, com- of Guatemala passion and action, and personal 2002 Seva chosen as one of only two organizations to represent scores growth and social change, Ram of international blindness organizations on the Vision 2020 Task Force • Tibet blindness survey findings made public • Tanzania Dass, at Seva meetings and on sight program initiated stage, asked the questions that 2003 Program offices opened in Chiapas, Mexico and Battambang, continually re-awakened what Cambodia • Marra Foundation grant to CSD • Co-Founder he calls “living spirit” in the Larry Brilliant returns as acting Executive Director for Seva’s day-to-day lives of many. 25th anniversary ith Seva’s help we continue to improve the “Wquality of life of the population by increasing the capacities of community health leaders. We see health as a result of social, economic, cultural and political conditions in which we live.” Dr. Carolina Salazar Oxlaju, Guatemala
eva is hope, “S motivation and light. HOPE for those who suffer. MOTIVATION for those making headway. eva volunteers bring much more than specific skills. And LIGHT that illuminates “SThey bring a mindset and a systematic approach to our work for health, life work, which greatly enhances the impact of their technical know-how. We welcome people who will devote their skills and peace.” and caring hearts to this challenge.” Dr. G. Venkataswamy Hugo Icú Perén Founder and Chair, Aravind Eye Hospital Program Partner Native American Programs Preserving Native Communities & Culture for Future Generations
or two decades, Seva has partnered with Native Americans working to rebuild and sustain their communities after centuries of devastation. Fundamental to Seva’s work in these programs is the Frecognition and support of Native Americans’ right to self-determination. These programs are directed and staffed by Native Americans, and provide support to rural and urban Native communities throughout the United States.
Native Americans have the lowest life expectancy rate of any ethnic group in America, suffer shocking levels of poverty, and have the worst health outcomes of any population in the U.S. Seva’s role is to help bring resources to Native Americans as they devise their own initiatives for building healthier communities.
Seva’s efforts are divided into two broad program areas: a small grants program for community initiatives directed by Native peoples, and a diabetes program to help combat the current epidemic of this disease among Native Americans.
GRANTS PROGRAM
For twenty years, Seva’s Native American Grants Program has supported hundreds of Native community initiatives with grants ranging from $100 to $10,000. Grants are made in areas of health and wellness, cultural preservation, environmental protection, community develop- ment, education, and treaty rights protection.
Seva ensures that support is given where it will have the greatest impact in the community.We also provide technical assistance to Native organizations by linking them to resources and giving feedback about their proposals. Most grants are awarded on a one-time basis, but the program also provides three-year continuing grants to help build the long-term capacity of selected Native American organizations.
25 Years of Service | 13 Lorelei DeCora, RN
Lorelei DeCora, a Native American nurse, has been involved with Seva since she first asked for help in establishing the Porcupine Clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1982. A few years ago she was moved by a compelling vision to return to her own Winnebago tribe to begin work on diabetes prevention. She heads Seva’s Diabetes Wellness Program, which receives requests for training and assistance from tribes throughout the U.S. Lorelei has received the This program provides one of the very few sources of non-governmental fund- Robert Wood Johnson Community ing available to Native communities, often sponsoring innovative projects that Health Leadership Award, serves on are unable to access other sources of support. Many Native projects that received the American Indian Workgroup of seed funding from Seva have grown to make an impact on their community far the National Diabetes Education beyond the scope of the original grant. Seva will continue to support Native Program at the Centers for Disease Americans as they devise solutions to the challenges that face their communities. Control and the National Institutes of Health. Lorelei has been awarded DIABETES WELLNESS PROGRAM the William Kunsler Award for In 1996, at the request of Lorelei DeCora, a Native American nurse and Racial Justice. community leader, Seva established the Diabetes Wellness Program to respond to the alarming epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. Mortality rates among Native Americans are four times the national average.
Recognizing that conventional health interventions have failed to stem the tide of diabetes devastating Native Americans, Seva’s Diabetes Wellness Program offers a Native solution designed to be culturally sensitive to the core values, beliefs, tradi- tions and practices common to Native peoples. The Diabetes Wellness Program honors the spiritual beliefs held by Native Americans and relies on culturally-based ceremonies and traditions to bring about meaningful, healthy and lasting change in the lives of participants.
14 | Seva Foundation In a three-year joint partnership with the Center for American Indian Research and Education, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, Seva tested a “Talking Circles” model as a tool in diabetes education among Native American adults. As they learned more about their disease, program participants dramatically improved their blood sugar levels by reclaiming a more traditional diet and exercising.
At the request of many Indian tribes, Seva plans to share this model with Native communities across the U.S. Training in the “Talking Circles” model will be provided to tribal and community organizations, Indian Health Service personnel, and employees of federal and state penitentiaries. Seva will also continue to fund community gardens, tribal bison herds, traditional foods education, and exercise equipment in Native American communi- ties through our Diabetes Wellness Program.
The small grants and diabetes programs address issues critical to Native Americans and respect the spiritual and cultural context of their communities. Seva plans to support significant growth in these programs in response to the enormous need and in recognition of its unique expertise in this area.While Seva Foundation supports partnerships with many underserved communities in distant parts of the globe, through this program, we also place a high priority on addressing health inequities closer to home.
25 Years of Service | 15 Ways to Support Seva Compassion in Action
olunteers have always played a crucial role in Seva’s work. From ophthalmologists performing sight-restoring cataract surgeries, to the epidemiologists conducting Vblindness surveys, to nurses, management consultants, graphic designers, “It is not envelope stuffers, telephone answerers, information technologists, writers and editors – volunteers sustain Seva programs. enough to be Volunteer opportunities abound at Seva. For current volunteer openings, please visit our website at www.seva.org, call us at 510.845.7382, or email [email protected]. compassionate.
Thank you.Without you, there would be no Seva. You must act.” Tenzin Gyatso, “Local development and implementation is a constant theme that 14th Dalai Lama comes across when working with Seva, and it has been a privilege to be a part of this important process. We all, medical professional or otherwise, locally and globally, play an important role in supporting hospital management and local program sustainability, enabling the continuation of eradicating blindness throughout Nepal.”
Kay Timms, volunteer
“Nat” Natalya Maura Santangelo, MD, FACS, MPH Natalya lives on a farm in Dr. Maura Santangelo first volunteered her ophthalmologic Colorado where she cares for 23 skills in Nepal in 1991 and was so inspired that seven chickens whose eggs she sells. She years later she retired from private practice, completed a was inspired by both her mother degree in Public Health, and as a volunteer, helped guide and Thich Nhat Hahn to share, Natalya Seva’s Sight Programs. She and her husband, Larry Schenk, and decided to donate some of her egg money recently completed a to Seva because “they really bring people together 500-mile pilgrimage on the from around the world.” Natalya’s donation helps Camino de Santiago in Spain teach reading and writing to indigenous to benefit Seva’s indigenous Guatemalans and restore sight in Asia. communities programs.
Maura sees patients in Tibet 16 | Seva Foundation Music To Our Eyes Seva Contribution SEVA CONCERTS WAYS TO GIVE
For the past Gifts of Service For the Holidays twenty-five years, and Year ’Round the incomparable Through Gifts of Service, Seva’s catalog Wavy Gravy has produced over of giving, you can make the most twenty concerts meaningful gifts on the planet! For to support Seva. holiday seasons, birthdays, weddings, For a complete mother’s day, father’s day, memorials, list of artists who thank-yous, tributes – remember the have donated catalog year ’round. their time and Wavy Gravy with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. talent, see the Artist section of the Donors List pull-out. Circle of Sharing Bonnie Raitt Join our circle of dedicated Seva donors who pledge a year’s and Jorma Kaukonen commitment and pay monthly by check or credit card. These donors make compassionate service a way of life.
Donations of Planned Gifts At the heart of our work are the wonderful donors who have made Seva part of their long-term financial plans. They support Seva by making outright gifts, gifts of stock, bequests, trusts, or gifts of property and other assets. If you are interested in exploring the benefits of a planned gift, please contact us.
“We at Aravind, and the patients who have been treated successfully by us, are thankful for the support of Seva. Seva has helped thousands of people enter into a new life.” Dr. G. Natchiar, Aravind Eye Hospital, India
25 Years of Service | 17 Since 1982Seva Canada Society
Martin Spencer, MD, FRCS
stablished in 1982, Seva Canada Society is a “Whether measured non-profit organization based in Vancouver. in millions of eyes EDuring the past twenty years, Seva Canada restored to sight, Society has built a broad base of support among healthy communi- Canadians from coast to coast. Our principal activities ties in Central abroad, in collaboration with the Seva Foundation, focus America, or Native on sight restoration and blindness prevention in developing Americans reclaiming their countries, particularly Nepal, India and Tibet. Seva Canada Maggie Westhaver, health and traditions, Marty Spencer and Society receives its primary support from the Canadian Executive Director former board co-chair, Seva Canada Society Seva Foundation has International Development Agency and through the Tibetan boona cheema Voices project, which offers books, posters, and an annual calendar. had an enormous impact on innumerable lives in many parts of Now and in the future, Seva Canada will continue to support sight the world. Equally important is the programs and will always be on the look-out for unique opportunities mindful way in which the work is to enrich the world we live in. Seva itself is a gift, an opportunity to carried out. I consider myself blessed express our compassion through the miraculous gift of sight. to know many people in the Seva Congratulations to Seva Foundation on your 25th anniversary. circle, and to have learned so much from them about the spirit of part- “Seva brings capacity to see the whole nership in compassionate service. Congratulations, Seva Foundation, cultural process of economic on 25 years of miracles!” renewal. We take the time to deepen our relationships in order to build a vision of sustainability that supports both spirit and culture.” Cesar Díaz, Board Member
18 | Seva Foundation 25 Years of Service | Seva Foundation Board &Staff
CHAIR OF THE BOARD ADVISORY BOARD G. Venkataswamy, MD, FACS Vann Ratana Jahanara Romney Wahhab Baldwin Bob Weir Jessica Schmidt EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR John Bennett Nedd Willard, Ph.D. Amy Sherts Lawrence B. Brilliant, MD, MPH Peter Buckley Agnes Williams Niki Smith Mirabai Bush Ruth Tamura BOARD OF DIRECTORS HONORARY AND EMERITUS Terrance Carlson Dennis Bowen, Sr. Nicole Grasset, MD Kunga Tashi Gary Cohen Girija Elaine Brilliant, Ph.D., MPH G. Venkataswamy, MD, FACS Chundak Tenzing, MD, MPH Ram Dass Lawrence B. Brilliant, MD, MPH Ram Dass Jennifer Temple Athena Desai Dechen Tsering, MPH Sally Crane STAFF Paul Haible Alexa Wilkie, MHS Cesar Díaz Alejandra Alvarez Michael Jeffery, JD Wavy Gravy Heng Bunthoen CONSULTANTS Neal L. Keny-Guyer Jerry Jones Bishnu Choudhary Lorelei DeCora, RN Glen Dune Lankard, Jr. T. Stephen Jones, MD, MPH Shravan Choudhary Suzanne Gilbert, Ph.D., MPH David Levine Yvette Joseph-Fox Linda Coiner David Green, MPH Maria Mangini, FNP, CNM, Ph.D. Mary LaMar Parami Dhakwa Tamara Klamner Sunanda Markus Leland E.G. “Lee” Larson Tashi Dhargye Michael Zap Alan Morinis Nipun Mehta Sonam Dradul P. Namperumalsamy, MD PHOTO CREDITS Stephen D. Miller, MD Beth Goldberg Pauline Pariser, MD Jay Blakesberg, Larry Brilliant, Doraiswamy Nagarajan Ram Prasad Kandel, MPH Marina Rifkin Geoff Bugbee, Paul Courtright, G. Natchiar, MD Cherie LaPointe Hans Schoepflin Rameshwar Das,Terence Ford, Sailhamo Samang Peter Lull Martin Spencer, MD, FRCS Brian Harris, Jon Kaplan, Jahanara Romney Phong Eddie Luu Beverly Spring, MD Paul Paz y Miño, Mary Pember, Maura Santangelo, MD, FACS Lois Moore R.D.Thulasiraj Maria Porter, Jahanara Romney, Isaac Sobol, MD, CCFP, MHSc. Deborah Moses Mark Tilsen Galen Rowell, Amy Sherts, Priscilla Ndlovu Linda Velarde Martin Spencer, Dechen Tsering Paul Paz y Miño 25 Years of Service | 19 Special Acknowledgments Twenty-five years ago, Larry and Seva Foundation Girija Brilliant wrote an article about their work eradicating smallpox in Financials Asia. In response to that article, people sent in $20,000, which became the seed money to start Seva. Two of the people who made the first ince Seva’s founding, our supporters have contributed over grants Seva ever received were Steve S $60 million for sight-restoring eye operations, diabetes prevention, Jobs and Bob Friedland. community development and other projects to strengthen communities In the early years, Seva was entirely a and improve health.Today Seva Foundation operates with a $3.5 million volunteer organization run out of the annual budget. As we’ve grown, we’ve maintained our commitment to Brilliant’s spare bedroom in Chelsea, keep administrative costs low. Michigan. Early board members we gratefully acknowledge include Ram Audited financial report available on request. Dass, Mirabai Bush, Dan Goleman, Nicole Grasset, Wavy Gravy, Michael Jeffery, Steve Jones, Sunanda Markus, Program Expenses vs. Administrative Overhead 1978-2003 Alan Morinis, Danny Rifkin, Bev Spring, Lama Surya Das, Dr. G. 60,000,000 Venkataswamy, Bob Weir, Carole West, and Nedd Willard.The early staff 50,000,000 included Judy Gallagher, Suzanne 16% Admin. Gilbert, David Green, Ravi Khanna, 40,000,000 and Marianne Zebrowski. Sir John Wilson, founder of the FUNDS 30,000,000 Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, was an early inspiration, 20,000,000 as were Nicole Grasset, the entire Aravind family, Neem Karoli Baba 10,000,000 and His Holiness the 16th Karmapa. 84%84% ProgramProgram We thank the many kind staff and volunteers who have served over the 1 2 3 4 5 past 25 years as Board Chairs and 6 7 8 9 10 11 Executive Directors. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 YEARS 21 22 23 24 25 25 years of Executive Directors Larry Brilliant, MD, MPH Revenue History 1994-2003 John Friedl, Ph.D. Suzanne Gilbert, Ph.D., MPH 4,000,000 James O'Dea Jahanara Romney 3,500,000 Amy Somers Mary Kay Sweeney 3,000,000 Marianne Zebrowski 2,500,000 25 years of Seva Board Chairs Girija Brilliant, Ph.D., MPH 2,000,000 REVENUE Larry Brilliant, MD MPH Mirabai Bush 1,500,000 boona cheema Gary Cohen 1,000,000 Ram Dass Michael Jeffery, JD 500,000 Jerry Jones Steve Jones, MD, MPH 0 Jai Lakshman 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Sunanda Markus YEAR Jahanara Romney Maura Santangelo, MD, FACS 20 | Seva Foundation Linda Velarde I honor the place in you where the
entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love,
of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if
you are in that place and I am in that
place in me, there is only one of us.
Ram Dass is a founding member and a well-loved friend of Seva’s Cover photograph reprinted with gratitude to and in memory of Galen and Barbara Cushman Rowell. We thank them for so many unforgettable Seva images
Seva Foundation 1786 Fifth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 510.845.7382 www.seva.org
For our Canadian friends, contact: Seva Canada Society | 100-2000 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J2G2 | 604.713.6622 | www.seva.ca