Christian Blind Mission Sunday Note to users: This presentation for Christian Blind Mission Sunday is designed to be flexible so you can adapt it to your needs and the time you have available. The full presentation is as follows: Slides 1-2: Introduction Slides 3-6: Joseph’s story Slides 7-11: Christine’s story Slides 12-13: Joy’s story Slides 14-15: CBM’s solutions Slides 16-19: About CBM Slides 20-22: How we can help For a shorter presentation, you could choose to use only one or two of the stories, and to omit the ‘About CBM’ section. Each page has a script for you to read as you show the slide. Script for slide 1: In the world’s poorest places, if you struggle to see life can be incredibly tough. As a result, people who are blind or visually impaired are among the world’s poorest people. It’s especially hard if you are a child. Imagine trying to learn at school if the words on the blackboard are a distant blur, or you can’t see a textbook. And without education, your chances of escaping poverty are slim.

Kenya This is not something that affects just a few individuals. In the East African country of Kenya alone, there are an estimated 840,000 people living with poor vision. That’s one in 50 of the population. With no National Health Service and high levels of poverty, most receive little or no support – not even a pair of glasses. Kenya

Joseph’s story This is Joseph. He lives in Kenya and is 10 years old. He has had difficulties with his vision since he was very young. However, children don’t routinely have sight tests in Kenya, and teachers aren’t trained to look for the signs of visual impairment. So Joseph’s short sight wasn’t discovered early, and it caused him great pain and difficulty. He struggled to help at home, he couldn’t see things on the floor to pick them up, and his performance at school suffered.

Eventually teachers noticed the problem and advised the family to take him to Sabatia eye hospital, which is supported by the charity Christian Blind Mission, or CBM. As his family didn’t have enough money to pay for all the support Joseph needed, some help was given free. Now Joseph has glasses for everyday use and a special telescope to use to see the blackboard at school.

As a result, this bright boy has caught up on the learning he’d missed out on, and gone straight to the top of his class. He now dreams of becoming a doctor.

Joseph’s father is just thankful his son can now see properly again Joseph’s father is just thankful his son can now see properly again. When he found out he didn’t have to pay for the life-changing equipment Joseph needed, because of the support provided by CBM, he says, “I was very happy and I really praised God”.

Christine Christine’s story Christine is 15, and had cataracts as a child. Even after an operation, she still has virtually no vision in one eye – she can just distinguish light and dark – and finds it hard to read with the other. She is also prone to tripping over. Christine was initially sent to a special school for children with learning disabilities, as the difficulties she was having in reading and moving about safely were believed to be the result of a learning disability.

However, she was regularly top of the class, and when the school had a visit from a low vision specialist from Sabatia, the local eye hospital supported by Christian Blind Mission (CBM), she identified that Christine's problems were probably just a result of her inability to see properly.

After sight tests, she was fitted with glasses and magnifiers to help her to see better. For example, this special telescope helps her to read what’s on the blackboard.

Her parents were overjoyed when they were advised that this meant Christine should go to a mainstream school. Not only was it much less expensive than the private special school, but she would also be challenged and learn more. But teachers at the first mainstream school she went to struggled to understand Christine’s needs.

Christine now attends a school where the teachers are more able to support her. But it’s about 8 km away from where her parents live, and when there is no money for the bus, she has to walk to school. CBM’s partner wants to run more training for local teachers so that in the future, children with visual impairments will be identified and properly supported wherever they go to school.

Joy’s story Eye problems in early childhood left Joy, who is now 11, blind in one eye and with very limited vision in the other. As a result, she’s had a very hard time at school. She says, “I had to strain to see words in the books. I had to go forward so I could see the black board; even if I sat at the front I could still not see the words on the board.” Her classmates have teased her, and teachers who don’t understand the support she needs sometimes beat her for falling behind with her work.

Her mother Jacinta explains, “Those who don’t know what is happening to her find it difficult to understand her; they want to harass her, and want to abuse her. She used to be a very active girl, very jovial. It makes her feel that she is not whole.”

Simple solutions The good news is that simple, low-cost, practical solutions like these can make all the difference to children with poor vision, enabling them to learn and participate more fully in society. With our help, Christian Blind Mission’s partners in Kenya can provide eye tests, glasses and specialist equipment to those who need them, and training to enable teachers and health workers to better help children with sight problems.

For Christian Blind Mission, it’s all part of realising its vision for a world in which every child has the opportunity to achieve their full God-given potential, regardless of disability or poverty.

About CBM Transforming the lives of people with disabilities, their families and communities in the world’s poorest places. Christian Blind Mission (CBM) is the world’s leading Christian international disability charity. It was founded over a century ago by German pastor Ernst Christoffel as a response to the abuse he saw being inflicted on blind and disabled children on the streets of Turkey. Though inspired by his Christian faith, from the beginning it has served people of all faiths and creeds; as he said, “The deed of love is the sermon everyone understands.” Today, CBM works to transform the lives of people with disabilities, their families and communities in many of the world’s poorest places.

Why disability? People living with disabilities in poverty are the world’s poorest people Poverty leads to disability 80% disabled people live in developing countries Lack of healthcare, water, sanitation and poor nutrition Half of all blindness due to cataract – easily treated Disability leads to poverty 90% disabled children in developing countries not in school Lack of rehabilitation, education and employment opportunities We can’t end extreme poverty without tackling disability Why focus on disability? People living with disabilities in developing countries are the world’s poorest people – and are trapped in a cycle of poverty and disability. If you are poor you are more likely to be disabled. 1 billion people live with disabilities (1 in 7 of the world’s population) – 80% in developing countries. If you have a disability, it is often harder to escape poverty due to lack of opportunities for education, training, plus stigma and discrimination. CBM’s work is focused on breaking this persistent cycle of poverty and disability.

CBM’s work Saving sight Improving health Education for all Livelihood opportunities Disaster relief Advocacy and partnerships CBM works with local partners across six main areas – Saving sight Improving health Education for all Providing livelihood opportunities Disaster relief Advocacy and alliances to bring about policy change

A global impact Over 30 million people reached in 2016 18.7 million treated for blinding & disabling diseases 433,894 sight-restoring cataract surgeries Helped 57,989 children with disabilities go to school Helped 62,335 people with disabilities to earn a living 59 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Here are a few facts and figures about its impact around the world in 2016.

This is only possible thanks to the support of people like us. Our support on Christian Blind Mission Sunday could help more children like Joseph, Christine and Joy to see the way to a brighter future.

How we can help £20 would buy a special telescope to enable a child to see the blackboard at school. £39 could pay for a pair of glasses to open up the world for someone with poor vision. £100 can help train a teacher how to support children who struggle to see. £190 can pay for surgery to remove cataracts from a child blind in both eyes and give them their sight back forever These are just a few examples of what our donations today could provide.

Thank you! www.cbmuk.org.uk CBMUK CBMuk Thank you! All images © CBM/Eshuchi. Map on slide 2 courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.