Twenty-five years ago,
a group of doctors, visionaries and entertainers
created the Seva Foundation, hoping to
make the world a little bit better.
This is our report.
The Seva Foundation
25 Years of Service
Since 1978 your donations of more than
$60 million have helped…
Two million blind people see again, through
operations performed by Seva partners in India,
Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia and Tanzania…
Thousands of Indigenous People in Guatemala
and Chiapas deliver healthy babies, drink clean
water and learn to read and write…
Native American communities throughout the
United States reclaim their health and culture.
Thank you.
Our thanks to an anonymous and generous donor for underwriting the full
cost of this publication. Not a single dollar was diverted from our programs
to produce this report.
Seeing and Believing
25 Years of Service
Executive Director’s
DEAR FRIENDS
OF
Greetings
SEVA,
One-quarter century ago, my wife and I wrote
an article about our life in a Himalayan
monastery and our work for the World Health
Organization eradicating smallpox in Asia.
We concluded “Death for a Killer Disease” with
an appeal for support of international health
programs in places where life is brutal, death comes
early, and helpless parents watch their children
sicken, die or go blind from diseases that should hold no
mystery for modern public health.
Readers were moved and mailed us money. We called a meeting
of friends and colleagues to discuss how to best use this windfall
and agreed to form an international health organization. I
wanted to call the new organization “Seva” because that Sanskrit
word means “Divine Work” or “Service to God.” We were shy
about such a lofty name at first, so we hedged our bets with a
double entendre and called ourselves: “S.E.V.A.: Society for
Epidemiology and Voluntary Assistance.”
Influenced by the many cases of smallpox-caused blindness
we had seen in India and by the zeal of Drs. Nicole Grasset and
G. Venkataswamy, we decided that blindness prevention and
cure would be our first project. Since then, Seva has been
supporting projects and hospitals that have given back sight to
more than two million blind through low cost or free surgery
and public health ophthalmology.
But we’ve also grown to include diabetes prevention in Native
American communities, where diabetes-caused mortality
rates are four times the national average. And in Chiapas,
Mexico and Guatemala, our community self development
programs have helped thousands of Indigenous Peoples to
drink clean water, read, write and deliver healthier babies.
Today, after 25 years of service, it is time to make a report to
the Seva community of workers, donors and friends.What you
have in your hands is that report, paid for entirely by one very
kind anonymous donor who wanted to make sure the Seva
story did not go untold. It is a story that still moves me, and a
story that brought me back as acting executive director to
help take Seva to the next level.
As you look through these inspiring pages, I invite you to not
only share the satisfaction in 25 years of service, but also to
join with me as a co-conspirator for the years of service to
come: to plan, fund, and implement the next 25 years of Seva.
With much love,
Larry Brilliant, MD, MPH
2
| Seva Foundation
Co-founder and acting Executive Director
Seva Foundation
Guiding Principles
WE AFFIRM
| both the rational and the intuitive in all
our work.
WE RESPECT
| the spiritual and cultural roots of individuals
and communities in helping them to create
sustainable solutions.
WE SEEK
| long-term solutions that will support economic
independence while remaining committed to
methods that are environmentally sound.
WE PROMOTE
| solutions to problems that come from within
individuals and communities. This principle
is inherent in Seva’s concept of self-reliance.
WE LISTEN
| attentively to the people with whom we work
and to each other. This kind of listening deepens
intercultural understanding, allows lasting
relationships to develop, and brings wholeness
to our work.
WE ARE
| flexible in responding to the changing needs and
conditions of the people and programs we help.
WE FOLLOW
|their lead in establishing goals
and setting schedules.
Basic Human Needs
(a Song for One String by Wavy Gravy)
Wouldn’t it be neat
If the people that you meet
had shoes upon their feet
and something to eat?
And wouldn’t it be fine
if all humankind
had shelter.
Chorus (Repeat after each verse):
Basic Human Needs
Basic Human Deeds
Doin’ What Comes Naturally.
Down in the Garden
Where No One Is Apart
Deep Down in the Garden
The Garden of Your Heart.
Wouldn’t it be grand
if we all lent a hand
so each one could stand
on a free piece of land?
And wouldn’t it be thrilling
If folks stopped their killing
And started in tilling the land?
Not just churches,
not just steeples
give me people helping people.
Help yourself and work out
‘til the stars begin to shout
thank god for something to do.
What a great day it would be
if everyone could see
and no one was blind unnecessarily
‘cuz its hard yes, it’s hard to be blind
(and disabled).
Wouldn’t it be fun
if the shine down from the sun
could power everyone?
And uranium slept forever in the ground.
Wouldn’t it be daring
if folks started sharing
instead of comparing
what each other was wearing?
And wouldn’t it be swell
if people didn’t sell their mother
Earth.
Lyrics by: Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy
and Ram Dass
Seva’s
Evolving Vision
FO R INTERNATIONAL HEALTH
&
DEVELOPMENT
S
eva supports people around the world in their efforts to build healthy
communities. Seva’s programs, spanning many cultures and countries,
share certain fundamental principles:
Serving the Under-served: Our programs serve people who have been
economically, politically, or otherwise marginalized. We change our program
approach to relate to their culture and circumstances – reaching out in very
different ways to nomads in Tibet, women in Tanzania or Indigenous Peoples in
Guatemala. Our aim is to bridge the gap between our donors and people
around the world who have the fewest resources.
Building Healthy Communities: Seva embraces an expanded concept of
health, recognizing that spiritual and cultural renewal, economic self-sufficiency,
and basic civil and human rights are as important to well-being as a visit to
the doctor.
Promoting Sustainability:
Seva’s programs foster selfreliance and aim to reduce
dependence on outside assistance. In the communities
where we work, we share skills
and technology appropriate for
local conditions, assist local
d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g, a n d h e l p
launch projects that will become
financially self-sufficient. This
transfer of knowledge enables
communities to care for their own,
now and into the future.
Working Through Partnerships:
Seva forms long-term partnerships with
those we serve. By developing close
relationships with local organizations and
community leaders, we build trust, mutual
respect, and cultural understanding.
We honor the ability of communities to
define their own needs and devise their own
solutions to the challenges they face.
Mission
S TAT E M E N T
Seva builds
partnerships
to respond to
locally defined
problems with
culturally
sustainable
solutions.
25 Years of Service
|3
Sight Programs
25 Years of Innovation in Blindness Prevention
F
or twenty-five years, Seva has developed innovative, sustainable eye care programs to prevent blindness
and restore sight to people around the world. With its early partners in Nepal and India, Seva created a
highly successful, high-volume approach to providing quality eye care in developing countries.
In 1981, Seva’s team of Drs. Larry and Girija Brilliant and Dr. Suzanne Gilbert spearheaded the Nepal Blindness
Survey – the first such study to document the causes and prevalence of blindness in a developing country. Seva
also pioneered the use of affordable medical supplies in modern eye surgery, enabling even the poorest patients
to receive sight-saving care.
In recent years, Seva’s blindness prevention work has expanded through new eye care partnerships in Tibet,
Cambodia, North India and Tanzania. Seva helped provide clinical training to thousands of local eye care workers,
and supports centers of training in India, Nepal and Tibet. In addition, Seva plays an active role in Vision 2020: the
Right to Sight – a global initiative to save 100 million people from going blind during the next twenty years.
Looking ahead, Seva will devote increasing energy and resources to eye
care for women and children. Each year, a staggering number of children
go blind – every minute a child somewhere in the world loses sight.
The majority of blind children die within a few years of becoming blind,
usually from the condition that caused the blindness. To launch our child
vision initiative, Seva is funding a program in South India, working with
45,000 children to gather critically needed data on childhood blindness.
Women are at the greatest risk of blindness. Expected to take care of family
needs before their own, women are the last to receive the eye care services they
need and all too often lose their sight to preventable causes. Seva addresses
women and children’s eye care needs through programs that integrate eye care
into primary health care, promote school screening, provide education and
outreach, and train eye care workers in the special needs of women and children.
4
| Seva Foundation
Dr. G. Venkataswamy, MD
INDIA
Dr. V is a
I
founding
board member
of the Seva
Foundation and
founder of Aravind
Eye Hospitals in India.
For four decades, he has
dedicated himself to the fight
against blindness. He pioneered
eye camps as a model for blindness prevention and treatment,
and personally performed over
100,000 successful eye surgeries.
Under his leadership, Aravind has
grown into a network of five eye
hospitals and an international
community ophthalmology
training institute. Dr.V has
received numerous international
awards for his remarkable
lifetime of service to humanity.
He remains a guiding force on
the Seva Advisory Board where
he continues to inspire us with his
vision of a world free of blindness.
n 1976, Dr. G. Venkataswamy turned his
former home in Madurai, India into an
11-bed hospital. Now the largest eye care
institution in the world, Aravind provides over
200,000 cataract surgeries and more than a
million eye exams each year. Aravind gives highquality, affordable, community-oriented eye care
to all. Its innovative financial structure allows fees
from one-third of paying patients to subsidize services for the two-thirds who cannot afford the costs.
In addition to supporting the hospital, Seva helped Aravind
establish an institute that now trains doctors, hospital administrators, and other eye care specialists from all over India and
other parts of Asia and Africa. Seva continues to send experts to
strengthen and expand the range of services and courses offered by
Aravind. Seva also arranged the transfer of technology that enabled
Aravind to establish a manufacturing unit, Aurolab, which makes eye care
supplies affordable to eye care programs in over eighty countries.
In North India, Seva recently initiated a partnership with the Sadguru Netra
Chikitsalaya Eye Hospital in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh State, where training is
focused on microsurgical techniques, expanding outreach services, and improving refraction facilities. In one year, with Seva’s assistance, the hospital increased
the number of cataract surgeries, improved the quality of its surgery, and
increased the number of paying patients. Working in partnership, Seva and the
Aravind Eye Care System are helping this 300-bed hospital develop into a technological center of excellence for eye care for northern India.
25 Years of Service
|5
Amar Deuja, MD
N E PA L
Dr. Amar Deuja
S
is Director of
Lumbini RanaAmbika Eye
Hospital in Nepal,
which was founded
in 1985 by Seva and its
partner, NNJS, in the populous
Lumbini Zone. The program has
grown to become self-sufficient
financially and now includes the
base hospital, six rural clinics, and
an active community program.
Under Dr. Deuja’s guidance and
with Seva’s support, the Lumbini
hospital is establishing a rural
training institute for all levels of
ophthalmologists, allied eye
health professionals, managers,
and other eye care workers. The
hospital currently performs over
25,000 eye surgeries per year.
6
| Seva Foundation
ince 1978, Seva’s partnership with the
Government of Nepal, the World Health
Organization and a dozen international
organizations has helped create one of the most
comprehensive eye care programs in the world.
Initiated by Dr. Nicole Grassett, a Seva founder and
leader in smallpox eradication efforts in Asia, the
program broke ground in 1981 with a comprehensive survey of blindness. Among the study’s landmark findings: cataract, and not an infectious
disease, was the leading cause of blindness in Nepal.
Growing from 1,000 cataract surgeries in 1978, Nepal’s eye centers now
provide more than 100,000 surgeries and more than 850,000 outpatient
services annually. Seva continues to work primarily through support of the Nepal
Eye Health Education Unit, which provides training programs for primary health
care workers, pharmaceutical retailers, female community health care volunteers,
and traditional healers throughout Nepal.
In addition to the national program, Seva established and supported an eye
hospital in the populous Lumbini Zone of Nepal. Since 1985, this program has
become one of the most successful models of high-volume quality eye care,
providing over 25,000 cataract surgeries and serving over 200,000 patients a
year. Its fee structure, developed by Seva, enabled the program to become
self-sufficient within a year, with a small proportion of paying patients covering
the costs of those who are indigent.
TIBET
Chundak Tenzing, MD, MPH
Newly named
T
ibet has one of the highest
rates of blindness in the
world, caused mostly by
cataract. Providing adequate eye care
to Tibet’s impoverished and widely
dispersed population is a real
challenge. For seven years, Seva has
been working with the Tibet
Development Fund, the Public
Health Bureau and hospitals and
doctors throughout the region.
Through these partnerships, 10,000 people have received eye care. Seva has also
trained local cataract surgical teams and supported 25 eye camps.
the Medical
Officer for Seva’s
sight programs,
Dr. Chundak
Tenzing has been
a driving force behind
Seva’s program expansion from
Nepal into Tibet. An ophthalmologist of Tibetan origin and a
Nepali national, he brings the
expertise of a cornea specialist to
our work and is well regarded for
Our overall goal in Tibet is to build a sustainable, affordable eye care infrastructure that is available to everyone. The results of the first-ever blindness survey,
supported by Seva, are being used to develop an eye care program to address
the most urgent needs of Tibetans.
his surgical skills. As a trainer
In 2002, Seva sponsored a historic eye care planning workshop in Lhasa –
the first of its kind in Tibet – with eye care personnel from throughout the
country. The resulting ten-year cataract blindness prevention plan calls for
developing an eye care system, increasing the number of patients – especially
women and children – and facilitating greater communication among eye care
workers. Seva’s model program will screen and treat patients, and provide
optical services or referrals to other specialized eye care programs.
Dr. Tenzing has just completed a
and a program planner, he is a
visionary, and has stewarded the
expansion of Seva’s projects.
Masters Degree at Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health. He is
also a gifted poet, inspired by
his life’s work.
25 Years of Service
|7
Paul Courtright, DrPH, MPH
TA N Z A N I A
Dr. Paul Courtright
A
has collaborated
with Seva for ten
years, most of this
time as the director of
the British Columbia
Centre for Epidemiologic
& International Ophthalmology.
The Centre designed The Tibet Eye
Care Assessment, which provided vital
information for Seva’s work in Tibet.
When Dr. Courtright and his wife,
Dr. Susan Lewallen, decided to return
to Africa to establish a center for
community ophthalmology, Seva
was one of the first organizations they
turned to for support in addressing
the blindness prevention needs on
the continent.They now direct the
Kilimanjaro Centre for Community
Ophthalmology at Tumaini University
in Moshi,Tanzania.
8
| Seva Foundation
frica has the most
significant gap in eye
care of any continent
in the world. There are not
enough eye doctors to meet the
need for eye care and treatment.
Training of skilled local staff is the
only solution. Seva is responding
by helping to establish the
Kilimanjaro Centre for Community
Ophthalmology – a rural training
center for eye doctors and community
workers in Tanzania that will serve the
East Africa region. With support from
Seva, the center has begun training of
ophthalmology residents, nurses, and medical officers and will expand its communitybased programs. It is also reaching out to
women, who are most at risk of blindness
because they do not have access to care.
Reducing blindness will continue to be a huge
challenge in Africa for many years, due to the shortage of trained personnel, lack of eye care systems, an
aging population and barriers to access. The overall goal
of Seva's work in Tanzania is to create an African model of
training that will prepare eye health workers not only to
provide quality care but also to address these obstacles.
P. Balakrishnan, Ph.D.
CAMBODIA
W
ith over 225,000 blind people and only four trained ophthalmologists, Cambodia desperately needs more qualified eye care
workers. For four years, Seva has been working with the
Cambodian National Eye Care Program to sponsor activities that promote
eye health. We have provided basic training for eye doctors and initiated a
blindness survey in Battambang
and Siem Reap, which were major
areas of Khmer Rouge violence
under Pol Pot. In addition, Seva is
sponsoring three Cambodian doctors
for ophthalmology training; they will
complete their studies and return to
practice in Cambodia in 2005. Seva
has also provided fellowships for
medical personnel to study quality eye
care services in Nepal and India.
P. Balakrishnan, Ph.D.
is the Managing
Director of Aurolab,
an Indian non-profit
established with Seva’s
help. Over the years,
Seva has facilitated several
technology transfers to Aurolab
that have enabled it to produce
intra-ocular lenses (IOLs), sutures,
and other supplies. Aurolab’s pricing
has also created a downward shift
in the cost of IOLs by other manufacturers selling in developing countries,
making quality cataract surgery more
generally affordable. Aurolab, under
Dr. Balakrishnan’s leadership, has
received international acclaim for
its accomplishment in bringing
affordable and greatly needed
medical technology to poor people
in developing countries.
Soon, Seva will train eye care professionals
who will assume leadership roles at the
National Training Institute for Ophthalmology.
With our in-country partners, we will expand
child sight programs in the under-served northwest region of Cambodia. The establishment of a
pediatric eye clinic at a local children’s hospital and
launch of child eye education programs are also being
planned. And by 2008, Seva-sponsored optical shops will
dispense eyeglasses.With long-term partners in Nepal, India
and Canada, Seva will play a significant role in addressing the
eye care needs of one of the world’s poorest countries.
25 Years of Service
|9
Community Self-Development
Guatemala/Chiapas
F
or seventeen years, Seva has supported the Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico,
helping these communities address the causes and effects of poverty, exclusion, and injustice. Seva
first became involved in Latin America by providing assistance to the Guatemalan refugees in Chiapas
and Campeche who fled the violence of the 1980’s. Struggling for basic survival, refugees received water,
food and shelter through Seva support. During the peace process, Seva volunteers and staff accompanied the
first refugee communities on their return to Guatemala, maintained a continual presence for their security,
and assisted them in the arduous task of rebuilding their communities.
This year, Seva changed the name of its Chiapas-Guatemala program to “Community Self-Development”
(CSD) to reflect the program’s core work and position it for regional expansion in the coming years.
“Self-development” means that the community organization defines, directs and oversees its projects, with
Seva providing resources and training. In keeping with our broad vision of community health, Seva
not only trains health workers, it also helps the community address the vital issues of cultural survival,
economic sustainability, and environmental protection.
“It is very important for us to have a relationship like the one
Oxlaju has with Seva. Seva understands our needs today
and helps us meet our own needs for the future. The
recovery of Maya Q’eqchi’ culture instills pride in our youth
today and forever.”
Mariano Poob Cuz,
Program Partner, Guatemala
10
| Seva Foundation
Alejandra Alvarez
To equip the community to address these issues, Seva prepares its leaders.
These are poor and frequently illiterate farmers who may walk six hours to
receive training in representing their communities and securing funding
for their projects. Seva guides the community in creating an organizational
structure and planning process and funds selected projects. For most
communities, the highest priorities are projects to build potable water
systems, train health promoters and midwives, build schools and roads,
organize and educate women and girls, establish weaving cooperatives, and
preserve culture and tradition.
In 1998, Seva began a five-year process of working directly with the Maya
Q’eqchi’ people of the Petén region of Guatemala. One example of Seva’s
success is Oxlajú, the leading Q’eqchi’ association of the Petén. Oxlajú has
responded to community needs for potable water systems, land
legalization processes, training for health promoters and
midwives, and many other community projects.
In 1986,
Alejandra Alvarez
began her work
with Guatemalan
refugees in Chiapas,
helping them market
their crafts in the
European Union.
Alejandra Alvarez (right)
with Sarah Vaill
She also helped
develop a support program that
provided education, health care,
housing, and nutrition for
children and nursing mothers.
Her family background, a blend
of Indigenous and European,
help inspire her long-term
commitment to indigenous
communities that face overwhelming economic difficulties
and political oppression.
“I’ve learned to travel between
two worlds and am learning to
see myself for what I am: a
mixture, someone who had to
learn her own identity and in the
process support her people.
Their struggle also involves the
need, not often expressed in
words, to be themselves and
regain their pride and identity
as members of their own – nearly
destroyed – culture.”
25 Years of Service
| 11
“Seva provides
humanitarian services
in some of the poorest
areas of the world with
the commitment of
caring, compassion and
competence.”
Larry Schwab, MD,
Author of “Eye Care in
Developing Nations”
12
| Seva Foundation
S eva wo r k s w i t h g r o u p s
that specifically promote and
assist indigenous women.
Participants attend workshops
to build self-esteem and
t o l e a r n ab o u t wo m e n ’s
rights, domestic violence, and
micro-enter pr ise projects.
Empowered by these new
ideas and skills, these women
are increasingly becoming
leaders and decision makers in
their communities.
In the coming years, the
Community Self-Development
Program plans to expand its
services for community organizations and broaden its work
to include projects in other
parts of southern Mexico and
Guatemala. Seva’s approach
brings lasting changes to the
lives of indigenous communities in their struggle to survive.
Seva: Seeing and Believing
25 YEARS
1978 Seva Foundation files Articles of Incorporation “to fund, develop
and administer projects and activities in developing countries and
the U.S. for eradication and control of epidemic and endemic
diseases, and the general improvement of health as defined by
the World Health Organization (WHO).”
or twenty-five years Seva has been helping to restore sight to
millions in Asia and supporting programs that reclaim and sustain
indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. Looking back at the
faces, programs and events, we feel a deep sense of gratitude to each
of you. Through your support, you have shaped Seva’s growth and
helped it reach out in service to people around the world.
F
1979 Founding Board Meeting, Waldenwoods, Michigan.
1980 Seva initiates and conducts WHO Nepal blindness program, the
first-ever national survey of blindness in Nepal.
1981 April 25 - “Sing Out for Seva” concert organized and hosted by
Wavy Gravy with Country Joe McDonald, Kate Wolf, Rosalie
Sorrels, Odetta and members of the Grateful Dead • Native
American seed grant to Women of All Red Nations (WARN) in
South Dakota
We are proud to share Seva’s history and eager to forge its future.
Please join us for the next twenty-five years of service and adventure.
1982 Seva Service Society incorporated in Vancouver
1983 Groundbreaking Nepal Blindness Survey completed • First grant
to Chiapas for Guatemalan refugees • First “Eye Ball” fundraising
event • Free ward funded at Aravind satellite hospital
1984 Seva begins to pay salary for Dr. Dhital and purchase medicines for
Lumbini Eye Care program • Supports development of community
health clinic on Cheyenne River Reservation
1985 “Cowboys for Indians” concert – proceeds to WARN • Guatemala
refugee relief • Ram Dass “Celebrating Spirit Through Service” tour
#1 heralds the first sign-up for local Seva groups
1986 Gifts of Service catalog initiated • Groundbreaking of Brotherhood
Clinic on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota
1988 Brotherhood Community Clinic completed • Aravind operates 3
hospitals with 1200 beds
1992 “Blues Against Blindness” concert • Aurolab intraocluar lens (IOLs)
used in cataract implant surgeries • Esalen Institute Music Festival
to benefit Seva Native American projects
FOUNDING MEMBER
Ram Dass
A founding
member of
Seva and
active on its
Board until
1994, Ram Dass
has been spiritual
friend, advisor, and
teacher to many in the
greater Seva family, including tens of thousands who
heard him during his marathon
cross-country Seva benefit
tours. Exploring the relationship
between service and spirit, compassion and action, and personal
growth and social change, Ram
Dass, at Seva meetings and on
stage, asked the questions that
continually re-awakened what
he calls “living spirit” in the
day-to-day lives of many.
1993 Alianza invites Seva to accompany first group of Guatemalans
returning home from Mexico • “Musical Reunion of Old Friends”
with Crosby, Stills and Nash • Lumbini Hospital, with 75 beds,
opens in Nepal
1994 First Jaguar volunteers accompany Guatemalan refugees, Lumbini
Eye Care Program revenue exceeds operating expenses.
1995 Blindness program into Tibet initiated by Seva with the Tibet
Development Fund • Eye camp conducted in Dharmasala, India
with Tibetan Delek Hospital staff and blessings of His Holiness
the Dalai Lama
1996 Native American diabetes project initiated with seed funds from
Foundation for Dreamers • “Summit on Ethics and Meaning”
co-sponsored in Washington, DC
1998 National Institutes of Nursing Health award five-year grant to
Native American Diabetes Talking Circles • “Sing Out for Seva”
concert • Oxlaju, Guatemala funding commences
1999 Comprehensive survey of blindness conducted in Tibet
• Cambodia sight program initiated
2000 Oxlaju completes three water systems in the Petén region
of Guatemala
2002 Seva chosen as one of only two organizations to represent scores
of international blindness organizations on the Vision 2020 Task
Force • Tibet blindness survey findings made public • Tanzania
sight program initiated
2003 Program offices opened in Chiapas, Mexico and Battambang,
Cambodia • Marra Foundation grant to CSD • Co-Founder
Larry Brilliant returns as acting Executive Director for Seva’s
25th anniversary
“W
ith Seva’s help we continue to improve the
quality of life of the population by increasing
the capacities of community health leaders. We see health
as a result of social, economic, cultural and political
conditions in which we live.”
Dr. Carolina Salazar
Oxlaju, Guatemala
“S
eva is hope,
motivation and
light. HOPE for those who
suffer. MOTIVATION for
those making headway.
And LIGHT that illuminates
our work for health, life
and peace.”
“S
eva volunteers bring much more than specific skills.
They bring a mindset and a systematic approach to
work, which greatly enhances the impact of their technical
know-how. We welcome people who will devote their skills
and caring hearts to this challenge.”
Dr. G. Venkataswamy
Hugo Icú Perén
Program Partner
Founder and Chair, Aravind Eye Hospital
Native American Programs
Preserving Native Communities
& Culture for Future Generations
F
or two decades, Seva has partnered with Native Americans working to rebuild and sustain their
communities after centuries of devastation. Fundamental to Seva’s work in these programs is the
recognition and support of Native Americans’ right to self-determination. These programs are
directed and staffed by Native Americans, and provide support to rural and urban Native communities
throughout the United States.
Native Americans have the lowest life expectancy rate of any ethnic group in America, suffer shocking
levels of poverty, and have the worst health outcomes of any population in the U.S. Seva’s role is to help
bring resources to Native Americans as they devise their own initiatives for building healthier communities.
Seva’s efforts are divided into two broad program areas: a small grants program for community initiatives
directed by Native peoples, and a diabetes program to help combat the current epidemic of this disease
among Native Americans.
GRANTS PROGRAM
For twenty years, Seva’s Native American Grants Program has supported
hundreds of Native community initiatives with grants ranging from
$100 to $10,000. Grants are made in areas of health and wellness,
cultural preservation, environmental protection, community development, education, and treaty rights protection.
Seva ensures that support is given where it will have the greatest impact in
the community. We also provide technical assistance to Native organizations
by linking them to resources and giving feedback about their proposals.
Most grants are awarded on a one-time basis, but the program also provides
three-year continuing grants to help build the long-term capacity of selected
Native American organizations.
25 Years of Service
| 13
Lorelei DeCora, RN
Lorelei DeCora, a
Native American
nurse, has been
involved with Seva
since she first asked
for help in establishing
the Porcupine Clinic on
the Pine Ridge Reservation in
1982. A few years ago she was
moved by a compelling vision
to return to her own Winnebago
tribe to begin work on diabetes
prevention. She heads Seva’s
Diabetes Wellness Program, which
receives requests for training and
assistance from tribes throughout
the U.S. Lorelei has received the
Robert Wood Johnson Community
Health Leadership Award, serves on
the American Indian Workgroup of
the National Diabetes Education
Program at the Centers for Disease
This program provides one of the very few sources of non-governmental funding available to Native communities, often sponsoring innovative projects that
are unable to access other sources of support. Many Native projects that received
seed funding from Seva have grown to make an impact on their community far
beyond the scope of the original grant. Seva will continue to support Native
Americans as they devise solutions to the challenges that face their communities.
Control and the National Institutes
of Health. Lorelei has been awarded
the William Kunsler Award for
Racial Justice.
DIABETES WELLNESS PROGRAM
In 1996, at the request of Lorelei DeCora, a Native American nurse and
community leader, Seva established the Diabetes Wellness Program to respond
to the alarming epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. Mortality rates among Native
Americans are four times the national average.
Recognizing that conventional health
interventions have failed to stem the tide of
diabetes devastating Native Americans,
Seva’s Diabetes Wellness Program offers a
Native solution designed to be culturally
sensitive to the core values, beliefs, traditions and practices common to Native
peoples. The Diabetes Wellness Program
honors the spiritual beliefs held by Native
Americans and relies on culturally-based
ceremonies and traditions to bring about
meaningful, healthy and lasting change in
the lives of participants.
14
| Seva Foundation
In a three-year joint partnership with the Center for American Indian Research and Education, funded by the
National Institute of Nursing Research, Seva tested a “Talking Circles” model as a tool in diabetes education
among Native American adults. As they learned more about their disease, program participants dramatically
improved their blood sugar levels by reclaiming a more traditional diet and exercising.
At the request of many Indian tribes, Seva plans to share this model with Native communities across the U.S.
Training in the “Talking Circles” model will be provided to tribal and community organizations, Indian Health
Service personnel, and employees of federal and state penitentiaries. Seva will also continue to fund community
gardens, tribal bison herds, traditional foods education, and exercise equipment in Native American communities through our Diabetes Wellness Program.
The small grants and diabetes programs address issues critical to Native Americans and respect the spiritual
and cultural context of their communities. Seva plans to support significant growth in these programs in
response to the enormous need and in recognition of its unique expertise in this area. While Seva Foundation
supports partnerships with many underserved communities in distant parts of the globe, through this
program, we also place a high priority on addressing health inequities closer to home.
25 Years of Service
| 15
Ways to Support Seva
Compassion in Action
V
olunteers have always played a crucial role in Seva’s work. From ophthalmologists
performing sight-restoring cataract surgeries, to the epidemiologists conducting
blindness surveys, to nurses, management consultants, graphic designers,
envelope stuffers, telephone answerers, information technologists, writers and editors –
volunteers sustain Seva programs.
“It is not
enough to be
Volunteer opportunities abound at Seva. For current volunteer openings, please visit
our website at www.seva.org, call us at 510.845.7382, or email [email protected].
compassionate.
Thank you. Without you, there would be no Seva.
You must act.”
Tenzin Gyatso,
14th Dalai Lama
“Local development and implementation is a constant theme that
comes across when working with Seva, and it has been a privilege
to be a part of this important process. We all, medical
professional or otherwise, locally and globally, play an
important role in supporting hospital management and
local program sustainability, enabling the continuation of
eradicating blindness throughout Nepal.”
Kay Timms,
volunteer
“Nat” Natalya
Maura Santangelo, MD, FACS, MPH
Natalya lives on a farm in
Colorado where she cares for 23
chickens whose eggs she sells. She
was inspired by both her mother
and Thich Nhat Hahn to share,
Natalya
and decided to donate some of her egg money
to Seva because “they really bring people together
from around the world.” Natalya’s donation helps
teach reading and writing to indigenous
Guatemalans and restore sight in Asia.
Dr. Maura Santangelo first volunteered her ophthalmologic
skills in Nepal in 1991 and was so inspired that seven
years later she retired from private practice, completed a
degree in Public Health, and as a volunteer, helped guide
Seva’s Sight Programs. She and her husband, Larry Schenk,
recently completed a
500-mile pilgrimage on the
Camino de Santiago in Spain
to benefit Seva’s indigenous
communities programs.
16
| Seva Foundation
Maura sees patients in Tibet
Music To Our Eyes
SEVA CONCERTS
For the past
twenty-five years,
the incomparable
Wavy Gravy has
produced over
twenty concerts
to support Seva.
For a complete
list of artists who
have donated
Wavy Gravy with Bob Weir
their time and
of the Grateful Dead.
talent, see the
Artist section of the Donors List pull-out.
Bonnie Raitt
and Jorma Kaukonen
Seva Contribution
WAYS TO GIVE
Gifts of Service For the Holidays
and Year ’Round
Through Gifts of Service, Seva’s catalog
of giving, you can make the most
meaningful gifts on the planet! For
holiday seasons, birthdays, weddings,
mother’s day, father’s day, memorials,
thank-yous, tributes – remember the
catalog year ’round.
Circle of Sharing
Join our circle of dedicated Seva donors who pledge a year’s
commitment and pay monthly by check or credit card.
These donors make compassionate service a way of life.
Donations of Planned Gifts
At the heart of our work are the wonderful donors who
have made Seva part of their long-term financial plans.
They support Seva by making outright gifts, gifts of
stock, bequests, trusts, or gifts of property and other
assets. If you are interested in exploring the benefits
of a planned gift, please contact us.
“We at Aravind, and the patients who have been treated
successfully by us, are thankful for the support of Seva.
Seva has helped thousands of people enter into a new life.”
Dr. G. Natchiar,
Aravind Eye Hospital, India
25 Years of Service
| 17
Since 1982
Seva Canada Society
Martin Spencer, MD, FRCS
E
stablished in 1982, Seva Canada Society is a
non-profit organization based in Vancouver.
During the past twenty years, Seva Canada
Society has built a broad base of support among
Canadians from coast to coast. Our principal activities
abroad, in collaboration with the Seva Foundation, focus
on sight restoration and blindness prevention in developing
countries, particularly Nepal, India and Tibet. Seva Canada Maggie Westhaver,
Society receives its primary support from the Canadian Executive Director
Seva Canada Society
International Development Agency and through the Tibetan
Voices project, which offers books, posters, and an annual calendar.
“Whether measured
in millions of eyes
restored to sight,
healthy communities in Central
America, or Native
Americans reclaiming their
health and traditions,
Seva Foundation has
Marty Spencer and
former board co-chair,
boona cheema
had an enormous impact on
innumerable lives in many parts of
Now and in the future, Seva Canada will continue to support sight
programs and will always be on the look-out for unique opportunities
to enrich the world we live in. Seva itself is a gift, an opportunity to
express our compassion through the miraculous gift of sight.
Congratulations to Seva Foundation on your 25th anniversary.
the world. Equally important is the
mindful way in which the work is
carried out. I consider myself blessed
to know many people in the Seva
circle, and to have learned so much
from them about the spirit of part-
“Seva brings capacity to see the whole
cultural process of economic
nership in compassionate service.
Congratulations, Seva Foundation,
on 25 years of miracles!”
renewal. We take the time to
deepen our relationships in
order to build a
vision of
sustainability that
supports both
spirit and culture.”
Cesar Díaz,
Board Member
18
| Seva Foundation
25 Years of Service
|
Seva Foundation
Board &Staff
CHAIR OF THE BOARD
ADVISORY BOARD
Jahanara Romney
Wahhab Baldwin
John Bennett
Peter Buckley
Mirabai Bush
Terrance Carlson
Gary Cohen
Ram Dass
Athena Desai
Paul Haible
Michael Jeffery, JD
Neal L. Keny-Guyer
Glen Dune Lankard, Jr.
David Levine
Maria Mangini, FNP, CNM, Ph.D.
Sunanda Markus
Alan Morinis
P. Namperumalsamy, MD
Pauline Pariser, MD
Marina Rifkin
Hans Schoepflin
Martin Spencer, MD, FRCS
Beverly Spring, MD
R.D. Thulasiraj
Mark Tilsen
Linda Velarde
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Lawrence B. Brilliant, MD, MPH
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dennis Bowen, Sr.
Girija Elaine Brilliant, Ph.D., MPH
Lawrence B. Brilliant, MD, MPH
Sally Crane
Cesar Díaz
Wavy Gravy
Jerry Jones
T. Stephen Jones, MD, MPH
Yvette Joseph-Fox
Mary LaMar
Leland E.G. “Lee” Larson
Nipun Mehta
Stephen D. Miller, MD
Doraiswamy Nagarajan
G. Natchiar, MD
Sailhamo Samang
Jahanara Romney
Maura Santangelo, MD, FACS
Isaac Sobol, MD, CCFP, MHSc.
G. Venkataswamy, MD, FACS
Bob Weir
Nedd Willard, Ph.D.
Agnes Williams
HONORARY AND EMERITUS
Nicole Grasset, MD
G. Venkataswamy, MD, FACS
Ram Dass
STAFF
Alejandra Alvarez
Heng Bunthoen
Bishnu Choudhary
Shravan Choudhary
Linda Coiner
Parami Dhakwa
Tashi Dhargye
Sonam Dradul
Beth Goldberg
Ram Prasad Kandel, MPH
Cherie LaPointe
Peter Lull
Phong Eddie Luu
Lois Moore
Deborah Moses
Priscilla Ndlovu
Paul Paz y Miño
Vann Ratana
Jessica Schmidt
Amy Sherts
Niki Smith
Ruth Tamura
Kunga Tashi
Chundak Tenzing, MD, MPH
Jennifer Temple
Dechen Tsering, MPH
Alexa Wilkie, MHS
CONSULTANTS
Lorelei DeCora, RN
Suzanne Gilbert, Ph.D., MPH
David Green, MPH
Tamara Klamner
Michael Zap
PHOTO CREDITS
Jay Blakesberg, Larry Brilliant,
Geoff Bugbee, Paul Courtright,
Rameshwar Das,Terence Ford,
Brian Harris, Jon Kaplan,
Paul Paz y Miño, Mary Pember,
Maria Porter, Jahanara Romney,
Galen Rowell, Amy Sherts,
Martin Spencer, Dechen Tsering
25 Years of Service
| 19
Special Acknowledgments
Seva Foundation
Financials
S
ince Seva’s founding, our supporters have contributed over
$60 million for sight-restoring eye operations, diabetes prevention,
community development and other projects to strengthen communities
and improve health. Today Seva Foundation operates with a $3.5 million
annual budget. As we’ve grown, we’ve maintained our commitment to
keep administrative costs low.
Audited financial report available on request.
Program Expenses vs. Administrative Overhead 1978-2003
60,000,000
50,000,000
16% Admin.
FUNDS
40,000,000
30,000,000
20,000,000
10,000,000
84%
84% Program
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22
YEARS
23 24
25
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
REVENUE
25 years of Executive Directors
Larry Brilliant, MD, MPH
John Friedl, Ph.D.
Suzanne Gilbert, Ph.D., MPH
James O'Dea
Jahanara Romney
Amy Somers
Mary Kay Sweeney
Marianne Zebrowski
Revenue History 1994-2003
25 years of Seva Board Chairs
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
YEAR
20
Twenty-five years ago, Larry and
Girija Brilliant wrote an article about
their work eradicating smallpox in
Asia. In response to that article,
people sent in $20,000, which
became the seed money to start Seva.
Two of the people who made the first
grants Seva ever received were Steve
Jobs and Bob Friedland.
In the early years, Seva was entirely a
volunteer organization run out of the
Brilliant’s spare bedroom in Chelsea,
Michigan. Early board members we
gratefully acknowledge include Ram
Dass, Mirabai Bush, Dan Goleman,
Nicole Grasset, Wavy Gravy, Michael
Jeffery, Steve Jones, Sunanda Markus,
Alan Morinis, Danny Rifkin, Bev
Spring, Lama Surya Das, Dr. G.
Venkataswamy, Bob Weir, Carole West,
and Nedd Willard.The early staff
included Judy Gallagher, Suzanne
Gilbert, David Green, Ravi Khanna,
and Marianne Zebrowski.
Sir John Wilson, founder of the
Royal Commonwealth Society for
the Blind, was an early inspiration,
as were Nicole Grasset, the entire
Aravind family, Neem Karoli Baba
and His Holiness the 16th Karmapa.
We thank the many kind staff and
volunteers who have served over the
past 25 years as Board Chairs and
Executive Directors.
| Seva Foundation
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Girija Brilliant, Ph.D., MPH
Larry Brilliant, MD MPH
Mirabai Bush
boona cheema
Gary Cohen
Ram Dass
Michael Jeffery, JD
Jerry Jones
Steve Jones, MD, MPH
Jai Lakshman
Sunanda Markus
Jahanara Romney
Maura Santangelo, MD, FACS
Linda Velarde
I honor the place in you where the
entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love,
of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if
you are in that place and I am in that
place in me, there is only one of us.
Ram Dass is a founding member
and a well-loved friend of Seva’s
Cover photograph reprinted
with gratitude to and in memory of
Galen and Barbara Cushman Rowell.
We thank them for so many
unforgettable Seva images
Seva Foundation
1 7 8 6 Fi f t h S t re e t
Berkeley, CA 94710
510.845.7382
www.seva.org
For our Canadian friends, contact: Seva Canada Society | 100-2000 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J2G2 | 604.713.6622 | www.seva.ca