Seva Canada Society is a registered Canadian charitable organization whose mission is to restore sight and prevent blindness in the developing world. It was established in 1982 with help from

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013 by the federal governmen ...

(CIDA, now

Global Affairs Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department ...

). It is located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Seva Canada currently works in 12 counties around the world. Seva Canada is rated as a four star charity on

Charity Intelligence Canada Charity Intelligence Canada (Ci) is a registered charity that does charity assessments of over 750 Canadian charitable organizations, to allow donors be informed when they donate to charities, and to promote transparency, accountability, and re ...

History

Seva Canada's sister organization

Seva Foundation Seva Foundation is an international non-profit health organization based in Berkeley, California, known for preventing and treating blindness and other visual impairments. It was co-founded in 1978 by Dr. Larry Brilliant, Ram Dass, Wavy Gravy, Nic ...

is located in Berkeley, California, and was co-founded in 1978 by Dr. Larry Brilliant,

Ram Dass Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been ...

Wavy Gravy Hugh Nanton Romney Jr. (born May 15, 1936), known as Wavy Gravy, is an American entertainer and peace activist best known for his role at Woodstock, as well as for his hippie persona and countercultural beliefs. He has reported that his moniker ...

, Nicole Grasset and

Govindappa Venkataswamy Govindappa Venkataswamy (1 October 1918 – 7 July 2006), popularly known as Dr V., was an Indian ophthalmologist who dedicated his life to eliminate needless blindness. He was the founder and former chairman of Aravind Eye Hospitals. He i ...

. In 1982 Dr. Alan Morinis and Dr. Bev Spring established Seva Canada and secured funding from the

(now

). In 2015, in conjunction with Seva Foundation and the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology, Seva Canada won the António Champalimaud Vision Award.

Programs

Seva Canada focuses its efforts on five main categories: * Sight restoration and blindness prevention programs * Collaboration on the development of partner clinics, hospitals and institutions * Funding and promotion of research internationally and in Canada * Funding initiatives to integrate eye care with public health institutes * Promotion and funding training and development of medical and non-medical personnel with overseas partner organizations

Honorary Patrons

* The Right Honourable

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...

- Canada's 26th Governor General from 1999 to 2005 * The Honourable

Lloyd Axworthy Lloyd Norman Axworthy (born December 21, 1939) is a Canadian politician, elder statesman and academic. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Following his retirement from parliament ...

- Canadian politician, statesman and academic * The Honourable Patrick Reid - Officer of the Order of Canada (1987) *

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

- late Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist * The Honourable Judith Guichon - 29th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.seva.ca/ Blindness organizations in Canada Health charities in Canada 1982 establishments in Canada