India (Northern)

The Jomgon Kongtrol Eye Centre in Kalimpong provides primary eye care to patients from the Darjeeling District. The primary mission of this Centre is to provide care to patients who cannot afford it.

The HCP has provided equipment support to the Centre, allowing for a wider array of eye care services to be provided. Paying patients who previously traveled for eye care further away can now be treated closer to home and provide income to this Centre.

The Centre built an optical shop in 2006 to make and sell glasses as a way to create revenue that generates a monthly income stream for the Centre.

Each of these revenue generating steps has allowed the Centre to become financially self-sustaining. This creative financing allows for continued growth and new services. In 2006, the Centre reached out to schools by offering screening to students. As a result, over one hundred students were provided free glasses and care.

HCP efforts in India have gradually expanded beyond general support for the Jomgon Kongtrol Eye Centre in Kalimpong, West Bengal, to include training and equipment support for the Vivekananda Mission Ashram Eye Hospital in Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, and training and outreach support at Kripalu charity eye hospitals in Uttar Pradesh. Tilganga ophthalmologist Dr. Govinda Paudel has led the training and outreach efforts in the Mangarh and Barsana districts of Uttar Pradesh, organizing three outreach eye clinics in 2009 and providing critical training to local eye care teams.