Author: Corinne Waldon

Each year, donations to Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) enable us to fund projects globally that provide immediate eyecare to those in need today, and expand optometry so vision care is available for years to come.

Building the Optometry Schools That Will Outlast Us

We’re sharing updates from five very different projects with a single throughline: the establishment and strengthening of optometry schools themselves. Spanning Nigeria, Nepal, Vietnam, and a network of Francophone countries, these stories showcase the deliberate work of building academic institutions capable of producing optometrists long after any single grant ends.

In Vietnam, the undergraduate Bachelor of Optometry program at Hanoi Medical University — supported by the Brien Holden Foundation with OGS funding — achieved formal government accreditation, establishing optometry as a recognized academic discipline for the first time in the country’s history. That accreditation has already opened the door to a new Master’s program, and it dovetails directly with a separate achievement: the Vietnamese government’s approval of an Optometrist Job Code, supported by OGS alongside our grantee partners, which allows locally trained optometrists to legally practice alongside ophthalmologists. In effect, Vietnam now has a fully recognized optometry profession built from the ground up.

The Université de Montréal/Unité de santé internationale is tackling a related but earlier-stage challenge: building optometry education from the ground up across several Francophone countries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a formal partnership agreement with HONU University is now signed, equipment has been delivered, and local lecturers received their first hands-on training in how to teach clinical procedures themselves. In Mali, a new director at the Institut Ophtalmologique Tropicale d’Afrique has renewed conversations about launching a Master’s program. Even in Lebanon, where geopolitical instability has paused in-person visits indefinitely, the work of building toward formal governmental recognition continues online.

Despite extraordinary circumstances, Université de Montréal/Unité de santé internationale also continues to make progress in support of the UEH School of Optometry in Haiti. Port-au-Prince remains in a state of armed conflict and institutional instability, yet the first semester of 2026 launched on schedule in February, with both external and local faculty delivering courses remotely. The final students from the 2018–2023 cohorts have begun their clinical internships at the Cathy Pearson and Fortune Previl Memorial Clinic, and discussions are underway to formally accredit a residency program there — a pathway designed to transition graduates into faculty roles at the UEH School of Optometry, building long-term teaching capacity from within.

In Nepal, the Nepal Optometry Students Society is laying a different type of foundational groundwork: a functioning optical lab. Sourcing instruments internationally has meant navigating shipping delays and import hurdles most schools never have to think about. But the lab being built will give Nepali optometry students practical training they’ve never had access to before.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, OPTOGLOBE is approaching the same issue from the student side. Faced with a smaller grant than requested, the Equipping the Future initiative pivoted toward gathering hard data on the barriers that optometry students worldwide face in accessing the clinical instruments their education depends on. That evidence — now live on a public dashboard — is already informing advocacy efforts and earning international attention, including an invitation to present at the IAPB meeting in Nairobi.

The work continues, across different countries and different stages of development, united by the belief that a profession is only as strong as the schools that train it. This is the kind of investment OGS is proud to stand behind.

PECAA has been a committed partner of Optometry Giving Sight since 2017, and in that time, they’ve found a way to make global giving a natural extension of what their members already do.

Their Growing Through Giving program makes charitable giving remarkably simple: members donate 5% or more of their IncentivEYES® rebate checks to OGS, and PECAA matches the first $20,000 in donations each year. For the average member, that’s roughly $1,250 annually, redirected from rebate income they’re already earning, toward communities that have never had access to basic eye care.

The program also doubles as a practice-builder. Participating members receive a full digital marketing toolkit — social media images, website banners, waiting room video, and a templated patient email — making it easy to share their generosity with the patients who inspire it.

“Professional Eye Care Associates of America’s (PECAA) Growing Through Giving program gives the organization’s member doctors an easy way to support charitable projects within the optical community, while promoting good works within the practice. In collaboration with Optometry Giving Sight, this program harnesses the charitable giving power of the PECAA community and provides a simple and effective method to grow practices through cause-related marketing and branding,” says Jonathan Worrall, PECAA president.

“The goal of Growing Through Giving is to raise funds to support Optometry Giving Sight’s mission to end preventable blindness and vision impairment through the establishment of optometry-based, long-term solutions around the world. PECAA members who participate receive a Tax-Deductible donation receipt from OGS annually. To date, PECAA Max members have donated more than $1M to Optometry Giving Sight,” Worrall adds.

We are grateful to PECAA for their long-standing commitment to OGS and for making global giving an effortless part of everyday practice life.

For two decades, Dr. Tom Wilk, Dr. Michele Naruszewicz, and the entire team at Mountain View Optometry have shown up for the World Sight Day Challenge, year after year, without fail. Since 2006, they’ve raised more than $93,000 for sustainable vision care around the world. More than donations, they’ve built a legacy.

And they didn’t slow down in 2025, even with a major clinic renovation underway. Instead of pulling back, they leaned in, launching an online fundraiser and extending their momentum through the holiday season with a “12 Days of Giving” campaign that was as creative as it was effective. Through emails, social media, newsletters, and in-office outreach, they inspired 30 online donors and rallied their community around something bigger than themselves. Combined with a generous practice donation, Mountain View Optometry raised more than $6,400 in 2025 alone.

“Since we began practicing more than 25 years ago, we have been proud supporters of Optometry Giving Sight. Their simple message of addressing preventable blindness worldwide resonates with our staff and patients during the annual World Sight Day fundraisers. OGS’s dedication aligns with our values of compassionate care and giving back to communities in need.” – Dr. Tom Wilk

Dr. Wilk’s commitment to OGS goes beyond the fundraiser. He’s also a former member of our Board of Directors, where his leadership left a lasting mark on the organization.

To Dr. Wilk, Dr. Naruszewicz, and the whole Mountain View team: thank you. You are exactly the kind of partners who make this mission possible.

Optometry Education Around the World

Grantees: VOSH California, Charis Vision and Health Mission, Canadian Vision Care, University of Cape Coast

Every donation to Optometry Giving Sight funds two kinds of impact: the patient who receives an exam or a pair of glasses today, and the optometrist who will provide that care for decades to come. Many of our funded projects include an education component — here’s a closer look at four whose training work is particularly central to their mission.

VOSH California — Nicaragua
VOSH California has been foundational to the development of optometry in Nicaragua, helping to establish the country’s first optometry school at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN). An OGS grant is now funding a Specialty Contact Lens Clinic within the Visionary Clinic in Managua, providing hands-on training to UNAN students and graduates in scleral and rigid gas-permeable contact lens fitting — services previously unavailable in the country — while delivering affordable, advanced care to patients who need it most.

Canadian Vision Care — Philippines
For more than 12 years, Canadian Vision Care’s Eye Train project has delivered eye care from two converted railway cars in Manila — a permanent, locally managed clinic that has served over 120,000 patients and now functions as a clinical training site for Filipino optometry students. An OGS grant is helping to expand the clinic’s capacity and deepen its outreach, including immersive learning experiences when Canadian optometry teams visit each year.

University of Cape Coast — Ghana
OGS awarded a grant to UCC’s School of Optometry and Vision Science to launch Opto-SCOPE, a program that embeds mobile eye care units within Ghana’s existing community health compounds in the Central Region. Final-year optometry students gain hands-on clinical experience through the program while bringing vision services to rural communities that currently have none — a model designed to be replicated and sustained well into the future.

Charis Vision and Health Mission — Nigeria
In partnership with Arthur Jarvis University in Akpabuyo, Cross River State, OGS helped fund a state-of-the-art optometry clinic — one now reported to house diagnostic equipment not available in many Nigerian teaching hospitals. The clinic serves the surrounding community while giving optometry students hands-on clinical training. Late last year, the facility was formally commissioned in a ceremony that also celebrated the induction of seven new Doctors of Optometry.

By investing in this life-changing work, we are helping to build a future where quality eye care is not a one-time gift, but a lasting, local reality that the community owns and sustains. Your donations make a difference now and into the future.

Celebrating Henderson Vision Centre as the Second Highest Practice for the 2025 World Sight Day Challenge.

For the team at Henderson Vision Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, supporting Optometry Giving Sight isn’t a new initiative; it’s simply part of who they are. The practice’s connection to OGS predates its current practitioners, rooted in the longstanding commitment of Dr. Scott Mundle, and carried forward with enthusiasm by the colleagues who followed.

That continuity paid off in a big way with Henderson Vision Centre being among the top practices for the past several years. In 2025, they ranked as the #2 highest fundraising practice in all of Canada and the United States for the World Sight Day Challenge — raising a remarkable $10,318.

Dr. Melina Chow, who joined the practice and inherited that giving spirit, puts it simply:

“We’ve been supporting OGS since before I joined the practice. Dr. Scott Mundle was very involved with OGS, and we have continued to support them. The work OGS does goes beyond helping people who live in developing countries; they train people there as well and develop continuity of care within those communities. And it’s so easy to bring it up to patients, for them to see and understand the mission, and ultimately to raise funds for OGS.”

But Dr. Chow is quick to share the credit. “I just really want to shout out my staff — they’re the ones that drive our fundraising and make it all happen!”

With over 40 years of serving the North Winnipeg community, Henderson Vision Centre brings that same dedication to patients near and far. We are deeply grateful to the entire HVC team for their generosity, and for showing what’s possible when a practice decides to bring its whole team along for the mission.

CooperVision, a global leader in manufacturing innovative contact lenses, has been a steadfast champion for Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) since the initiative’s inception. As a global lead sponsor, CooperVision’s multi-faceted support has been instrumental in addressing the needs of the more than 1.1 billion people worldwide who suffer from vision impairment. To date, their collective efforts have generated more than $3 million in contributions for OGS.

Their commitment is felt across the globe through several key initiatives:

• Employee Giving and Matching: Annual company matches of employee donations and fundraising events at CooperVision sites worldwide.
• Patient Engagement: Innovative patient rebate programs and cause-related marketing campaigns that invite consumers to join the mission.
• The Ambassador Program: Each year, select CooperVision employees join an OGS outreach program to see firsthand the impact of their support, such as the 2019 mission to Uganda.

Strengthening the Leadership Bond

In 2026, CooperVision’s Senior Director of Global Professional Affairs Karen Walsh joined the OGS board of directors. With a distinguished career in clinical education and research, Walsh brings a wealth of expertise to the board’s leadership.

“Joining the board of Optometry Giving Sight is a natural extension of my work to support eye care professionals and expand access to care,” says Walsh. “I have long admired OGS for its focus on building permanent infrastructure and training local personnel—creating a world where vision care is a right, not a luxury.”

A Legacy of Support

Beyond financial contributions, CooperVision’s partnership helps fuel OGS programs on six continents that have provided eye care services to millions, trained more than 14,000 eye care personnel, and established over 130 vision centers.

“Our long-standing partnership with Optometry Giving Sight reflects CooperVision’s belief that meaningful change requires sustained commitment,” says Jerry Warner, president of CooperVision. “Together, we’re not just responding to today’s challenges. We’re building the foundation for a future where quality vision care is available to every community, everywhere.”

We extend our deepest gratitude to CooperVision for their extraordinary long-term commitment. We look forward to our ongoing partnership as we work together to provide the gift of sight and eliminate preventable blindness on a global scale.