Founded in 1984, Orbis Canada is one of eight fundraising branches of Orbis International. Orbis works to train medical professionals in poor areas so that blindness can be treated and prevented. It is estimated that 189 million people are blind or visually impaired but could see more clearly if they had access to surgery, medicine, or glasses. Not being able to see affects an individual’s likelihood of getting an education, earning a steady income, and caring for their family.

Orbis prevents and treats blindness in 18 countries in South America, Africa, and Asia. The charity advocates for eyecare centres to be established in poor areas and provides training to local professionals. In some countries, Orbis also screens for blindness-causing illnesses and administers the necessary treatment or vaccines.

Orbis operates an airplane as the world’s only Flying Eye Hospital. Surgeries are performed on the plane and up to 46 local medical professionals watch in live 3D from the onboard classroom. Orbis teaches procedures based on the most significant threats to eyesight in the area.  During its two-week stay in Barbados, the Flying Eye Hospital used virtual reality so that trainees could perform a hands-on, simulated surgery before operating on patients.

Orbis’ Cybersight program provides free lectures, surgical videos, and textbooks electronically to eyecare professionals. Cybersight allows for professionals in remote areas to access the best information. In 2017, recorded videos were played 35,000 times and 78 live webinars were accessed in 125 countries. The Cybersight program also allows for eyecare professionals to communicate for mentorship and diagnoses of complex cases. 

Results and Impact: Orbis collaborated on a study examining the effect on productivity of providing Indian, tea-picking workers with glasses. The results were published in The Lancet Global Health, finding that the $2.60 glasses improved a visually-impaired worker’s productivity by 22%. For workers over 50, the productivity increase was 32%. It is estimated that if all visually-impaired Indians working in agriculture were provided glasses, the industry would produce $20 billion worth of additional product.

With restored or improved eyesight, people are able to work or are more productive at their job. Orbis Canada reports that every $1 spent on eye health in poor countries produces $4 in economic gain.

Orbis Canada is a Small charity, with donations and fundraising revenue of $868k in F2017. Administrative costs are 13% of revenues and fundraising costs are 38% of donations. For every $1 donated, 49 cents go to the cause, falling outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Orbis Canada has $942k in funding reserves which could cover program costs for almost two years.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Orbis Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 13, 2018 by Madison Kerr.