The team at Seva Nepal are brilliant! Kandel, Parami and Shravan work tirelessly to bring eye care to the very poor, those in remote areas, women and children. They are models of compassion in action. Here's a series of photos that Parami sent us from an eye camp that took place in Terathum, Nepal this autumn. It illustrates the tremendous burden (literally) that cataract blindness places on families and communities.

This woman is blind from mature bilateral cataracts and was carried to the Seva eye camp at Terathum by her teenaged grandson in this traditional Nepali basket.

Here she waits, sitting in the basket, with hundreds of other eye care patients

The burden of cataract blindness... a teenage boy carries his blind grandmother to have her eyes examined by the ophthalmologist.

The blind woman has her eyes examined by Dr. Iris Winter from Biratnagar Eye Hospital. During the first day of the camp, Dr. Winter examined 220 patients.

Receiving cataract surgery at the Seva-supported Terathum Eye Camp in Nepal

Her sight restored through a 15-minute cataract surgery costing about $50 (less than a haircut in North America), this Nepali woman can now walk on her own back to her village. Restoring someone's sight is the most cost-effective way to reduce poverty according to the WHO.

This woman was one of 5 patients who were carried on the backs of their relatives to the Seva-supported eye camp. Some patients walked two full days to seek care. Here are the happy results of this camp: A total of 564 patients were examined in the three-day eye camp and 67 surgeries were performed, of which 54 were sight-restoring cataract surgeries (31 female & 23 male) and 13 (female 7 & 6 male) were other surgeries like pterigium, chalazion & entropion surgeries*. A total of eight bilateral blind patients underwent surgery. Our deepest thanks to the team and to our wonderful Seva donors who made this possible. And thank you to Parami, Shravan and Kandel at Seva Nepal for sharing this heartwarming story with us. To give the gift of sight, visit www.seva.ca. Definitions: What is pterigium?:  A pterygium is fleshy tissue that grows in a triangular shape over the cornea (the transparent part or front window of the eyeball). It may grow large enough to interfere with vision. What is chalazion?: A chalazion  is a cyst in the eyelid that is caused by inflammation of a blocked meibomian gland, usually on the upper eyelid. Chalazions differ from styes in that they are more painful than styes, as well as bigger in size. A chalazion could take months to fully heal with treatment and could take years to heal without any. What is entropion?: Entropion is a medical condition in which the eyelids fold inward. It is very uncomfortable, as the eyelashes rub against the cornea constantly. Entropion is usually caused by genetic factors and may be congenital. Trachoma infection may cause scarring of the inner eyelid, which may cause entropion. Treatment is a simple surgery in which excess skin of the outer lids is removed. Prognosis is excellent if surgery is performed before the cornea is damaged.