The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Assan Sallah and Omar Wally
3 July 2009
Standard Chartered Bank has registered success in its 'seeing is believing' initiative, launched in 2003, purposely to give back to the communities in restoring sights.
As part of this initiative, staff of Standard Chartered Bank, the Gambia on Wednesday, distribute foodstuffs to patients at the Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre in Kanifing. Across the world, one person goes blind every five seconds. Every minute a child loses his or her sight. 60% of children die within a year of going blind. There are 45 million blind people in the world and total of 314 million people suffer from a serious form of visual impairment. In many cases, this has a serious effect on employment and education opportunities.
Yet a staging 75% of blindness can be avoided with the right treatment. 90% of avoidable blindness occurs in the developing world. SCB has helped restore over million sight and through a mixture of preventive and creative work. The bank is working to make a difference in the lives of 10 million people by 2010. 2008's seeing is believing launched a new vision working in partnership with International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPD) World Health Organisation (WHO) and other eye care.
NGOs' seeing is believing will provide sustainable eye care to 20 million people from less-advantaged areas in 20 cities across the Banks' footprint. The care will be comprehensive from community outreach and awareness to vitamin A supplementation, spectacle provision and sophisticated surgery. It will be sustainable ensuring that what they do is for the long term.
In October 2007, SCB, The Gambia, showed another side of being the right partner when staff volunteered at the Sheik Zayed Regional Eye care centre to mark world sight day. SCB staff assisted nurses, surgeons, oculists, matron and nursing assistants to treat a total of 150 people.
In October 2008, SCB, in collaboration with its local seeing is believing partners: Sight Savers, Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye care centre , and the Ministry of Health and Social welfare, played a friendly fundraising football match against the National Scorpions fans' club and raised $14.000 to treat 300 people on cataract operation in The Gambia. Standard Chartered Bank's CEO, Humphrey Mukwereza, said: "Our people are deepening our engagement with our communities by contributing their time and other resources. We are leading the way in our communities by being the right partner, bringing benefit to our communities," he said.
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