Culture of hope

US-based NGO Orbis now has more long-term projects in China than anywhere else in the world - nine, says Orbis country director George Smith.

These training and capacity-building efforts with local hospitals run for three to five years. Each gets about $1.5 million in funding at the outset, Smith says. This pays for training Chinese doctors abroad, bringing in volunteer faculty to teach onsite, donated equipment and bio-medical training and developing a network of rural clinics that can provide public education, screening, treatment for simple cases and access to partner hospitals for the most difficult cases.

"The goal," says Smith, "is to create a sustainable network and huge eye-care capacity in the province."