Social Services

August 2012: The most immediate need of the Amdo Eye Hospital is to purchase a laser surgery machine (Phacoemulsification machine). The cost for one of these machines is US$120,000. FPMT is currently fundraising in order to be able to sponsor one, which will greatly help the hospital’s efficiency and will directly benefit those needing the surgeries.

The phacoemulsification machine breaks the cataract into tiny pieces and then suctions those pieces from the eye through a very small incision. Prior to the development of the phaco machine, the cataract was normally removed in one piece, requiring a larger incision, sutures, and more trauma to the eye. By having the phacoemulsification machine the whole procedure is much faster, less than 15 minutes per eye, and it allows the patient to walk out of the surgical suite and resume normal activities within a few days.

How Can I Make a Donation?

To make a tax-deductible donation:

donate

Or simply send your check in US dollars payable to FPMT Inc. and write “Amdo Eye Hospital” on the memo line.

FPMT Inc.
1632 SE 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97214-4702
USA

The Amdo Eye Hospital is a project of FPMT Inc. and is administered by FPMT International Office located in Portland, Oregon, United States. All donations made to this fund are tax-deductible within the United States in accordance with IRS Code article 501(c)(3) to the extent allowed by law.

For more information please contact: Holly Ansett, Charitable Projects Coordinator.

August 2011: Ven. Pemba Sherpa (FPMT board member, resident teacher and co-director of Cham Tse Ling, in Hong Kong) visited the Amdo Eye Hospital to report on its progress and operations.

Read the report with photos.

Currently there are 24 people working in the hospital, including four doctors and four nurses who visit from the local government hospital a few times a week to perform the actual surgeries. The hospital is three and half stories high and has 36 beds to accommodate patients.

The full price for cataract surgery is about US$750 (4800 CNY), however for patients who cannot afford this, the surgery is offered for free or whatever amount they can manage. At this stage it is not possible to run the hospital totally free of charge, but the plan is to be able to offer more free or low cost surgeries, as the hospital expands.

August 2011: The inauguration of the building was in July 2010, it took a year to equip the hospital and get the necessary documents to be able to perform the surgeries and in August 2011 the hospital was officially opened to the public. In the last four weeks the hospital has performed eight surgeries and four of these were offered free. As the hospital becomes better known and receives more funding and equipment it will be able to perform many more surgeries. Currently the hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Xining dedicated solely to performing eye surgery.

Please watch a video of the inauguration of the Amdo Eye Hospital.

Animal Liberation Fund helped saved the lives of 120 yaks that were going to be killed in Nepal in 2011. December 2011: Geshe Jinpa from Kopan Monastery arranged for 120 yaks that were going to be killed to be purchased and taken to families who pledged to care for the yaks for the rest of their lives. The trip took over a week on foot and there will soon be a documentary released about the liberation. The fund offered US$7,715 to sponsor half of the 120 yaks, students from Singapore sponsored the other half. Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessed 120 giant pieces of cloth for the yaks to wear as blessing “strings.”

108 Yaks: A Journey of Love & Freedom, a 30-minute documentary, follows the project from its origins, from Geshe Jinpa receiving Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice to save the yaks, to the 19-day expedition driving the yaks across the Himalayan range of northeast Nepal to their remote sanctuary in the holy valley of Rolwaling.

November 2011: During Thanksgiving 25 turkeys were bought and liberated at Buddha Amitabha Pureland in Washington State.

October 2011: When Rinpoche heard how hundreds of thousands of animals in Nepal would be sacrificed during Dashain (a yearly, 15-day Hindu religious festival), Rinpoche immediately started to check what prayers and pujas should be done to help all the animals have a good rebirth as well as to help those who perform the sacrifices. Rinpoche then requested over 10,000 Sangha members from the three great monasteries and many other monasteries and nunneries to do extensive Medicine Buddha puja as well as nyung näs with strong dedications for all animals that are killed, especially those being sacrificed during Dashain as well as for those who do the killing. The cost of all the pujas was over US$15,000, which Lama Zopa Rinpoche and students sponsored.

June 2011: The Animal Liberation Fund donated US$25,000 to liberate two million lives, dedicated especially for the health and long life of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This animal liberation was organized by Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore.

August 2010: A US$5,000 donation was given to the MAITRI Charitable Trust in India for their amazing ongoing work to save animals from harm.

Photos • PowerPoint

After more than six years of development, FPMT was extremely pleased to announce the opening of the Amdo Eye Hospital, in Xining, the capital of Amdo, Tibet in July of 2010. This hospital is dedicated to providing continuous, sustainable and quality eye care to all and in particular those from underprivileged backgrounds. The hospital will also be offering smaller outreach microsurgery eye clinics in remote areas.

 Every five seconds, one person in the world goes blind. 37 million people in the world are blind, yet with access to quality eye care, 80% of the world’s blindness would be totally avoidable.

The first patients to have cataract surgery at the Amdo Eye Hospital.The province of Amdo (called Qinghai in Chinese) is home to people of both Tibetan and Chinese descent. Many are nomads living far from modern health care facilities, and due to the terrain and scattered population, mobile eye care providers cannot always reach them. As a result, the prevalence of blindness in Amdo is four times higher than the national average for China. The need is urgent for accessible eye care in Amdo. That is why Geshe Lhundub Sopa Rinpoche requested Lama Zopa Rinpoche to help with the building of Amdo Eye Hospital.

Please watch a short video on the Amdo Eye Hospital.

Modeled on the already successful Lhasa Eye Clinic, the Amdo Eye Hospital provides high quality cataract surgery. Dr. Sanduk Ruit – who founded the highly successful Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu, the Lhasa Eye Clinic and the Nepal Eye Program – will be training the Amdo Eye Hospital staff and is committed to oversee operations for the next two years, ensuring the highest standards (Please read a letter of support from Dr. Sanduk Ruit).

The Simplest Miracle

Dr. Sanduk Ruit performing cataract surgery.Intraocular surgery can be performed in minutes. First the eye is washed to reduce the risk of infection. A local anesthetic is injected below the lower eyelid, blocking sensation in the eyeball. After the clouded interior of the lens is removed through a tiny incision on the side of the eyeball, the intraocular lens is inserted into the empty lens capsule. Dr. Ruit calls this surgery, “The best thing a human can do in five minutes.”

For the past six years FPMT has been committed to raising the funds to build the Amdo Eye Hospital along with the the kind contributions of many benefactors, in particular The Tanoto Founda­tion and Compassion Paris. The land the hospital was built on was offered free of charge by the local government and the total cost to build the hospital was US$605,970.

The annual cost to run the Amdo Eye Hospital is US$125,313 (800,000 CNY).

By offering to the Amdo Eye Hospital you are benefiting others who are in great need, in particularly the people in Tibet who are blind, helping them to open their eyes and see, what an incredible joy and happiness you are giving them! However many hundreds and thousands of people who receive help from the Amdo Eye Hospital, for as long as it exists, they receive this unbelievable benefit because of your kindness and generosity. From this you are creating unbelievable causes of happiness and success that will be achieved in this life and in future lives. This is the nature of the karma: from one cause you experience the result for hundreds and thousands of years.

—Lama Zopa Rinpoche