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Emmanuel is a 12 year old boy who didn’t attend school. He wished every day he could go with the other children in the village but he had been nearly blind since birth. He spent his days in his village which he knew well enough to get around. His local community tried to look out for him to help him stay safe.

Albinism is a congenital disorder that is characterised by the partial or complete absence of pigment in the skin, eyes and hair. The disorder has a very high prevalence in Tanzania with 1 in every 1,200 people suffering from it.

Aged 16, Seakthy wanted to excel at school but she couldn’t see things clearly. Without professional eye care she also wrongly believed that her condition was a normal vision development.

Optometry Giving Sight has provided substantial financial support over the past 7 years to help enhance access to eye care for people in Sri Lanka. 3 Vision Centres have been established and 7 Sri Lankans have obtained their degrees or diplomas in Optometry.

After visiting the optometry department at the Asmara School of Health Sciences, Abrehet was examined by a student in the department and diagnosed with refractive error. She was given a pair of glasses from the optical workshop lab that had already been processed by the students as part of their cut and fit training.

The EyeTeach© workshops continue to prove a success since launching in Latin America in 2013. The workshops, implemented by Brien Holden Vision Institute and sponsored by Optometry Giving Sight, focus on the development of local optometry in the region and strengthening the professional development of existing eye health practitioners and educators.