It's always a challenge to convey to our donors just how much their gifts accomplish overseas. Though the programs are far away, we try to use our newsletter, website and blog to show supporters just what a tremendous difference gifts of sight make.

Blind Tibetan woman before cataract surgery

Same woman after catarct surgery. Photos by Dr. Martin Spencer

In mid-May, we took Seva on the road to Victoria, Nanaimo and Gabriola. It was a chance for us to thank our supporters and to show, through presentations by Penny Lyons (Seva's executive director), Susan Erdmann (board member) and Dr. Martin Spencer (ophthalmologist and board member) what our donors' gifts have accomplished. Marty gave a powerful presentation on the history and work of Seva. Susan followed with her visual eyewitness report of the Seva eye camps in Tibet, "Tibet: Saving Sight on the Roof of the World". Here's some of the comments we received after the shows: "Really great show! The photos from both Marty and Susan of the incredible joy on the patient's faces after the surgery are beautiful. It affected us deeply. What a great cause, Seva." Jill and Jay, Gabriola "I very much liked the way the evening was organized. The personal touches made us feel so welcome. The refreshments were perfect and the cake for Steve, aside from being delicious, was such a personal touch." Eveline, Gabriola "Very good meeting last night. Great atmosphere and well put together. Enjoyed it a lot and would have liked more discussion at the end." Nicholas, Victoria Our thanks to all the volunteers and supporters who helped make all three evenings a great success: to Renee Olson, Ashley West, and Helene Cyr in Victoria; to Neil Smith and the Malaspina Theatre staff in Nanaimo; to Gabriola Food Market on Gabriola; to Susan Spinola from Seattle who was so helpful in Nanaimo and on Gabriola; to Carol Mckee for her hours of clean-up on Gabriola; to Hartley & Marks Publishers for the donated Paperblanks; and of course to Susan and Marty for their wonderful presentations. Finally, our thanks to Dirk Heydemann, a professional photographer and friend of Marty's, who took photos of the Nanaimo event and has created a lovely slideshow. To see the photos visit http://www.heydemannphoto.com/index2.php?v=v1, click "Clients" from the bottom menu and enter "Seva" as the password.