The Vision Beyond AUS Story

 

International Bridges of Friendship

In 2011 the President of Sydney Rotary, asked Indy Singh, Executive Chairman (Fiducian Group) and club member, to help find a project that would build “international bridges of friendship”. Indy knew of the work of two Australian eye surgeons, Dr Jay Chandra and Dr Purnima Roy, in the small town of Rishikesh, in Northern India. They had travelled there, with a team of volunteers to conduct free eye surgery clinics for the desperately poor of the area. Indy decided that if this work could be organised and coordinated properly, it would satisfy the criteria to be a worthwhile and valuable Sydney Rotary international project.

Fundraising Effort

With Indy Singh and his company Fiducian assisting in fundraising and with support from Sydney Rotary, Vision Beyond AUS was formed in 2011 with the aim of supporting the Rishikesh project.

In 2012, Indy established Vision Beyond AUS as a registered Australian Charity, with the objectives of “relieving sickness and distress through the provision of medical assistance and by undertaking relief and sustainable development programs for people in Declared Developing Countries without favouritism or discrimination by race, religion, culture or political persuasion”.

The Target

Indy set a primary target for Vision Beyond AUS that it would restore the sight of 100,000 of the world’s most desperately disadvantaged people who would have no other way to see again…and then he intends to keep going until he has cured as many of the 100 million people who are blind today and have the chance to see again through the work of charities such as Vision Beyond AUS. As of September 2024 almost 56,000 people have had their eyesight restored. 

Click to read the Report from Cambodia 

Your support matters 

Vision Beyond AUS works in India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Nepal to provide operations and train local people. 

  • Each operation costs just $35.00, with every dollar going to operations and training – no money is deducted for administration. All administration is done by Fiducian Group Ltd free of charge.
  • Eye surgeons from Australia regularly travel to the four countries and pay all their own accommodation and travel expenses – again, so that all funds pay for operations and training.
  • Correcting vision impairment and blindness is crucial to people living in India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Nepal.
  • Many visually impaired people in these countries live in squalid slums. These people are considered a burden on the families because they need extra care and they cannot contribute to the families’ incomes.
  • More than 90% of them cannot work and either totally rely on their families to support them or are discarded, to live and beg on the streets. Their life expectancy drops to one-third of the average for their age group.

Sydney Rotary is delighted to support the invaluable work being done by Vision Beyond Aus.