Christian Blind Mission (CBM) is an international Christian development organisation, committed to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in the poorest communities of the world. Based on its Christian values and over 100 years of professional expertise, CBM addresses poverty as a cause and a consequence of disability and works in partnership to create an inclusive society for all.
CBM’s work on NTDs started from its Eye Health programmes which focused on rehabilitation for the blind. However, with the advent of preventive chemotherapy, CBM was instrumental in trialling some of the first mass treatments for onchocerciasis and trachoma partnering closely with APOC and others. CBM International currently supports government programmes to eliminate NTDs in Africa and Asia, including Nigeria, DRC, South Sudan, CAR, Ethiopia, Burundi and Pakistan.
CBM's work is founded on the core values of Christianity, internationalism, professionalism, stewardship, honest communication and inclusion inherited from our founder, Pastor Ernst Jakob Christoffel. In 1908, Christoffel set out for Turkey and founded a home in Malatia for blind and disabled, orphaned children, with the support from friends. The mission societies to which he had applied had no mandate for helping the blind in the Orient so a new organisation was formed which eventually became Christoffel Blindenmission and more recently Christian Blind Mission. Over time, CBM’s remit widened from serving blind people to ensuring that the rights and needs of people with disability in poor communities are not forgotten.
