Eyeglasses inspire new dreams for Ethiopian student

When Yeshiworque first started school, she was as bright and eager to learn as any kindergartener. She loved going to class, and by the end of first grade, she was among the top three students in her class. But during second grade, everything changed. That year, Yeshiworque started having trouble seeing the blackboard. She had… Continue reading Eyeglasses inspire new dreams for Ethiopian student

Keeping community at the heart of our approach

A community health worker provides an education session to community members, providing more information on common eye conditions.

As we work to eliminate avoidable blindness and attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including gender equality and good health and well-being, our focus on communities remains key to our success. Our worldwide team of locally-recruited health workers and volunteers gives us ‘insider knowledge’ of a community’s needs and helps us deliver care that… Continue reading Keeping community at the heart of our approach

Empowering educators

As a teacher working in special needs education in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya, Mary Benzo has seen the difference eye health care can make in the lives of students. As part of our school eye health program, we trained Mary and other school staff to do vision screenings using the smartphone app Peek Acuity. Students… Continue reading Empowering educators

Finding care in the community

When six-year-old Piu began experiencing painful watery, red eyes, blurred vision and headaches, her mother, Sathi, and father, Dipongok, were understandably worried. “I felt sad that others could read and write in class while my child was unable to do that,” Sathi says. Piu, who lives with her parents and four-year-old brother in Bangladesh, began… Continue reading Finding care in the community