Every minute, someone in Indonesia goes blind from avoidable causes
Cataracts and poor access to eye care mean too many people lose their sight unnecessarily. Your Zakat or Sadaqah this Ramadan will help restore sight for someone in need and change their life.
Not enough eye specialists
Indonesia has only around 2,372 ophthalmologists for a population of more than 287.5 million people, and most are concentrated in Java and Bali. Supporting the training of local eye heaelth workers is essential to reaching communities that would otherwise miss out on care.
Poverty limits access to care
Many people cannot afford travel, treatment, or time away from work. In poorer provinces, limited services mean blindness often forces people to rely on family members for even the most basic daily tasks.
There is a large cataract backlog
Cataract remains the leading cause of avoidable blindness in Indonesia. In provinces such as West Nusa Tenggara, tens of thousands of people are still on waiting lists, hoping to receive treatment. Although the number of cataract surgeries increases each year, the backlog remains high, and thousands continue to miss out on the care they need.
The moment Suharni saw her family again
Thanks to a cataract surgical week at her local hospital, supported by The Foundation, Suharni had surgery that took less than half an hour.
When her eye patches were removed, her joy was overwhelming.
“He is the most beautiful man. I have not seen him for three years,” she said of her husband.
She looked at her grandchildren, some for the first time, and couldn’t stop smiling. Every face she saw was a reminder of the life she had nearly missed.
This life-changing moment was made possible because people chose to give generously. During this Ramadan, your act of charity can bring light into someone’s life.
Fred’s vision lives on
Fred Hollows believed in training people to create lasting change. “Teach the teachers first. Then the teachers can teach others,” he famously said.
9 out of 10 people who are blind or vision impaired don’t need to be. Many people stay needlessly blind because they live in poverty. In developing countries, blindness denies people education, independence, and the ability to work—opportunities that can break the poverty cycle. But all this can be changed with as little as $25 in some countries.
The Fred Hollows Foundation works in more than 25 countries and has restored sight to over three million people worldwide. This couldn’t have been achieved without the overwhelming support of the Australian public. We’re as determined now as ever to end avoidable blindness.
By supporting The Fred Hollows Foundation this Ramadan, your giving whether Zakat or Sadaqah – helps train the next generation of eye health workers, extending care to more people in need.
More than 30 years after The Foundation started, Fred’s vision lives on in Indonesia through doctors like Dr Sriana Wulansari. In Central Lombok, Dr Wulansari and her team restored the sight of over 300 patients during a single cataract outreach, including Suharni. Over six weeks, more than 1,500 people in the region had their sight restored, many after years on waiting lists.
Today, she leads a program training nurses and community doctors, helping ensure eye care reaches people in need long into the future.
