Crossing Every Barrier to Give Light & Hope to Those Living In Darkness

Every man has a purpose in their life, but only a few can find it and embark on a journey to make a difference in this world. Mr Tej Kohli is one of the few men who, while amassing wealth as a deep tech, real estate investor, entrepreneur, and Chairman of Kohli Ventures, is eager to light up the lives of underserved people in the developing nation. In the world of philanthropy, Mr Tej Kohli’s noble work does not go unnoticed. Before starting the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation (TKRF), he was already invested in curing blindness and poverty created by it with his Tej Kohli Foundation and the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute.

Achieving The Milestones

Philanthropist Tej Kohli started the TRKF with the renowned ophthalmologist and eye surgeon Dr Sanduk Ruit. The mission of the organization is to cure 500,000 people who have cataract-induced blindness and screen 1,000,000 people by 2030. TKRF is aligned with the UN’s 2030InSight mission, which brings to in forefront the economic, social and development challenges caused by unnecessary blindness.

Though COVID-19 has slowed TKRF’s progress in giving vision to the people suffering from cataract, the indomitable spirit of Mr Tej Kohli and Dr Sanduk Ruit to serve the poverty-stricken individuals have paid off. Slowly but steadily, at the beginning of 2023, TKRF recorded screening 220,016 people while crossing the landmark of 30,000 in curing cataract-caused blindness.

Tej Kohli understands that his endeavour of curing blindness and eradicating poverty with the help of Dr SandukRuit is an insurmountable task to do alone. Moreover so when the areas where TKRF intends to serve are not only remote but also, at times, inaccessible. However, that does not stop TKRF from bringing light into the darkness. Hence he has sought help; he has so far partnered with 12 hospitals and 58 doctors in a network. The organization has already served three countries and completed 98 outreach camps.

Crossing The Barriers

TKRF has also started setting up mobile operating theatres with the partnered hospitals in areas where low-income patients need access to eye hospitals for surgeries, given the remote location they stay. The duo is steadfast in their mission to cure unwanted blindness irrespective of the hardships and cross every barrier.

It has been established that with advanced cataract surgery technology, it takes only seven minutes and fifty dollars to cure unwanted blindness. Given these figures, TKRF aims to cure people in Cambodia, Laos, Tanzania, Ghana, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Columbia. They have already served in Nepal, Bhutan and Ghana and cured 30,123 people with cataract-caused blindness.

Why Is Curing Blindness Essential?

It is easy to understand why Mr Tej Kohli has been working tirelessly to give vision back to these people. According to him, it is one of the best ways to create sustainable change and bring the underserved regions out of their economic and development perils. As part of his venture to cure eyesight, Mr Kohli has invested heavily in scientific research for the Tej Kohli’s eye foundation to find affordable solutions to cure congenital blindness. One can learn more about how Tej Kohli is helping people to get their vision back, irrespective of where they live, from TKRF and Mr Kohli’s blogs and the regular pictures posted of the cured patients is a sight to behold.