Sightsavers’ appeal launched with live broadcast of sight-restoring operation
Howard Lake | 9 October 2014 | News
Sightsavers has launched its largest fundraising appeal to date and is using live video to demonstrate the impact it can achieve. Its A Million Miracles campaign aims to raise £30 million to provide sight-restoring surgery for one million people living in developing countries.
The campaign was launched with a live broadcast of a man undergoing a sight-restoring operation in a hospital in Malawi. The six minute cataract operation will mean that 69-year-old Winesi March will be able to see his baby grandson for the first time when his bandages are removed today, World Sight Day.
The broadcast was hosted by YouTuber Doug Armstrong on a Google Hangout. He was joined by Dr Gerald Msukwa, one of only a few ophthalmologists in Malawi, talked through the simple procedure.
Dr Msukwa said:
“Yesterday Winesi could not farm his land, see his family or walk to the market without the constant support of his dedicated wife. Tomorrow he tells me he will dance across the river by his home to work. The operation only costs £30 but will help him feed his family for years to come.”
[youtube height=”450″ width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4MtG17Twg8[/youtube]
All donations to the A Million Miracles appeal from the UK public will be match funded by the UK government’s UK Aid programme for the first three months of the appeal.
Winesi’s bandages will be removed today at 1.30pm BST. The campaign is being promoted with the hashtag #SeeTheMiracle.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.