Giving Back: Orbis International

BJT readers—who represent one of the highest-net-worth magazine audiences anywhere—clearly have the means to contribute to a better world. To help you do that, we’re spotlighting one deserving organization per issue. All of them have received a four-star overall rating from Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org), which evaluates philanthropic institutions based on their finances, accountability and transparency.

Orbis International has fought preventable blindness in 92 countries since 1982. Four out of five blind people are unable to see due to avoidable causes and 90 percent of them live in developing countries. Through medical training, in-country partnerships, a proprietary online medical platform called Cybersight, and—most notably—a new flying ophthalmic teaching hospital, Orbis has helped hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are children. Last June, the charity unveiled the second-generation Orbis Flying Eye Hospital—a custom designed MD-10. It includes an on-board operating room, laser-treatment room, and 46-seat classroom where broadcast technology allows local doctors to observe surgeries in real time. Last year alone, the organization trained 30,326 medical professionals and performed 2.13 million medical screenings.