Christoffel Mission for the Blind

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CBM logo

The Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM) is a development aid organization founded in 1908 by Pastor Ernst Jakob Christoffel . It has set itself the goal of improving the living situation of blind , deaf , mentally , psychologically and physically disabled people on the basis of Christian values and wants to work preventively. Christoffel founded the first home for blind, physically disabled and orphaned children in Malatya . With that he laid the foundation stone of the CBM.

CBM International

The Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI) is the internationally active umbrella organization of the CBM; it has other member associations from Australia , the United Kingdom , Ireland , Italy , Kenya , New Zealand , South Africa and the United States . Together they fund 525 projects in 55 countries (2018). The CBM is recognized as a specialist organization by the World Health Organization and has consultant status with the United Nations .

In 2017, CBM and the British organization Sightsavers were awarded the Prémio de Visão António Champalimaud, endowed with one million euros .

CBM Germany

The headquarters of CBM Germany is in Bensheim , with an office in Berlin . CBM Germany is one of the 20 largest aid organizations in Germany . In 2018, with the help of donations , it financed development aid projects around the world amounting to 46 million euros. In Germany, the CBM carries out educational work on the effects of visual impairment and blindness, the possibility of prevention and the connection between poverty and disability . The organization has had the donation seal of the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI) since 1993 . She is also a signatory to the Transparent Civil Society Initiative .

Starting in 2004, the Christoffel-Blindenmission campaigned for donations with a poster on which a black blind man was depicted, whose eyes were depicted as money slots. The BBDO agency won a prize from the Association of Communication Agencies for the campaign . It was only discontinued in 2006 after protests about disparaging depiction of blind people.

CBM Switzerland

CBM Switzerland is based in Thalwil ZH . It is a non-profit organization and was founded in 1988. CBM Switzerland runs country programs in nine priority countries ( Bolivia , Guatemala , Peru , Burkina Faso , Madagascar , India , Laos , Nepal and Pakistan ) and supports individual projects in other countries. In 2018 she funded her development projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America with a volume of 9.1 million Swiss francs. In Switzerland, the development organization does advocacy work so that the rights of people with disabilities are fully taken into account in international cooperation and humanitarian aid. CBM Switzerland carries the Zewo seal of approval and is a partner organization of Swiss Solidarity .

CBM Austria

CBM Austria is based in Vienna . It was first founded in 1989. In 2004 the Austrian CBM office broke away from the CBM network and renamed it " Light for the World ", which meant that there was no independent CBM agency in Austria for several years. Only in 2018 was a branch in Vienna established under the name "Christoffel-Blindenmission Austria - Charitable Foundation".

Adventure mobile

With the mobile experience, CBM Germany and CBM Switzerland raise awareness of visual impairment and blindness in public places, at trade fairs and at schools in Germany and Switzerland. Equipped with a long stick and simulation goggles that temporarily make you “blind”, visitors feel their way through a corridor. You will experience the challenges blind people have to face every day. The twelve-meter-long adventure walkway is located in a specially designed vehicle. It is equipped with everyday obstacles and objects to feel and listen to. The mobile is suitable for students from the third grade. A trained person from the CBM leads through the double lesson.

Focus of work

The CBM enables people with disabilities to receive medical care, support in an integrative manner and to be included in society on an equal footing. The work focuses on three core areas.

  • Blindness prevention: In developing countries, living conditions lead to an up to 10 times higher risk of blindness due to lack of water and vitamins and poor hygienic conditions. In arid areas, fly-borne bacterial infections lead to blindness ( trachoma ). The CBM funds education and medication. She also supports projects that combat river blindness .
  • Cataract (cataract): The CBM funded eye surgeries for the treatment of cataract in developing countries . Around 14.3 million operations have been financed since 1966 (as of 2018, in 2018 605,443).
  • Improvement of living conditions: The organization supports partner organizations in developing countries. These provide people with disabilities with visual aids , hearing aids , prostheses and walking aids so that they can lead as independent a life as possible. CBM also encourages the learning of Braille and sign language. It is committed to helping people with disabilities find economic prospects and a livelihood in developing areas (inclusion). In addition, health education, training and further education of local medical professionals are provided. Furthermore, people with disabilities are supported through targeted training and technical training. It also sensitizes the population to the rights of people with disabilities (advocacy).

Missionary work

The organization sees itself as a non-denominational Christian aid organization and sees itself in the tradition of active charity . According to his own statement, mission should take place through action in the social-diaconal sense, but no longer actively through teaching, as was the case with Ernst Jakob Christoffel. Nevertheless, the instructing missionary aspect can be found in parts of their publications, e.g. B. regularly in the form of a short prayer. The organization works a lot with church partners; many of the project staff are volunteers in the parish work of their local church by organizing services.

Statistical development

100 years of mission for the blind on commemorative stamp

The number of people who received comprehensive help from the CBM and were treated for neglected tropical diseases rose from 23.7 to over 60 million between 2009 and 2018 (own information). In Germany, donation income rose from 42.2 million euros in 2012 to 46 million euros in 2014 to 264 million euros in 2018. The reason for the sharp increase is a drug donation program from Merck Sharp & Dome (MSD) to combat river blindness, which was implemented in the The year 2018 was a donation in kind of 204 million euros.

Prominent supporters

The organization is supported by the following celebrities from various areas of public life:

For Germany

For Switzerland

  • Sibylle Forrer, pastor and former spokeswoman for Word for Sunday
  • Jeanette Macchi, presenter
  • Marco Jörg, blind musician, songwriter and youth worker
  • David Plüss , musician and producer

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.cbm.de/aktuelles/jahresbericht.html
  2. ↑ Network of the CBM Switzerland. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Brief description of the CBM Germany ( Memento from November 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ 2017. In: fchampalimaud.org. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Mission for the Blind opens headquarters in Berlin. Potsdam Latest News , November 7, 2013, accessed February 24, 2014 .
  6. ↑ For 2011, there was a decline in donations. DZI , December 19, 2011, accessed February 24, 2014 .
  7. ↑ https://www.cbm.de/aktuelles/jahresbericht.html
  8. ↑ Christoffel-Blindenmission in Deutschland e. V. DZI, accessed on February 24, 2014 .
  9. ↑ www.transparency.de ( Memento from September 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 4, 2014
  10. ↑ The blind as a money box - the advertising campaign of the Christoffel-Blindenmission on behindertenparkplatz.de; accessed on December 23, 2016
  11. ^ History of the CBM. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Annual report of CBM Switzerland. Retrieved September 3, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Aid organizations with the Zewo seal of approval. Retrieved November 18, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Swiss Solidarity partner relief organizations. Retrieved November 18, 2016 .
  15. ↑ The history of CBM Austria | Christoffel Blindenmission Austria - Charitable Foundation. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  16. ↑ https://www.cbm.de/aktuelles/jahresbericht.html
  17. ↑ https://www.cbm.de/aktuelles/jahresbericht.html
  18. ↑ Prominent supporters of CBM Germany
  19. ↑ Verena Bentele is the new disability officer . bundesregierung.de. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  20. ↑ Ambassadors of the CBM Switzerland. Retrieved September 12, 2018 .