cbm Canada Claims September as its "Month of Miracles"

Stouffville, ON, August 27, 2010 – By the time you read this news release, one child in our world will have gone blind. One child with a name and a face. One child like three-year-old Ben in Cameroon.

Blinded by white clouds of cataracts, Ben’s sight had completely deteriorated. He was forced to spend hours each day clinging to his mother’s back. 

Ben was unable to socialize with his peers, faced a future of no education and the inability to realize his full potential. His single mother feared for his safety.

Almost 50% of the world’s 1.4 million children are needlessly blind.

Throughout the world, 18 million people - men, women and children - have lost their sight due to cataracts. Age, trauma or disease has caused the lenses in their eyes to cloud over.

The vast majority of these people live in the poorest countries of the world on less than $1 a dollar a day.

“For these people, their very survival depends on their vision. Children, like Ben, aren’t given the chance to attend school,” says Ed Epp, Executive Director of cbm Canada. “Parents lose their jobs; there is no money for food or medicine. Families are trapped in poverty because of preventable blindness.”

But with the help of generous Canadians, cbm can give these people hope - an opportunity to climb out of dire poverty.

A “Month of Miracles”

cbm Canada is claiming September as its “Month of Miracles”. Together with generous donors from coast to coast, cbm Canada believes it can raise enough money to sponsor 500 cataract surgeries every day – 15,000 miracles of sight in the month of September.

cbm is transforming lives

For only $33, Canadians can transform an adult’s life by giving them the miracle of sight and help free them from a lifetime of blindness and poverty with a simple 12-minute cataract surgery. For children like Ben, cataract surgery is $200 to cover the costs of a more complex surgery that requires general anaesthesia.

Cataract surgery provides a dramatic overnight change in a person’s life that is living with blindness in extreme poverty. It has an enormous immediate impact on the economic viability of an entire family.

cbm is restoring hope

When a miracle of sight is made possible, cbm is doing more than physically opening someone’s eyes. Not only are they given the ability to see, they are given hope for a brighter future.

Last year, Ben’s vision was totally restored through cataract surgery provided by cbm. Now, he can play safely, and has the opportunity to go school and realize his full potential.

How Canadians can help
 
To rescue an adult or child trapped in poverty with blindness, call 1-800-567-2264 or DONATE NOW!. 

A leading international Christian development organization, cbm Canada (formerly known as Christian Blind Mission) works to meet the needs of persons with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world.

Media Contact:
Sandy Hazell
National Media Coordinator
cbm Canada
shazell@cbmcanada.org
(905) 640-6466 ext 246;
1-800-567-2264 ext 246
(416) 302-3166 (cell)