The 22-year-old works as a beautician and hopes to someday go to college, but vision trouble has meant difficulty reading, working and doing daily tasks at home.

“I thought that my sight problems would lead to bigger eye troubles in the future, which would affect my life,” she reflects.

Like many women in South Asia who face social barriers to seeking healthcare, Tonnima was embarrassed to tell others about her vision problems. She says her family felt helpless and anxious.

Tonnima was grateful to learn that there was a vision centre just a kilometre away from her home, where she received an eye exam, a pair of prescription glasses and eye medication.

The impact has been life changing.

“I’m very happy now, as I can see everything clearly and can do my regular work, and read and write,” Tonnima says.

“I hope to live a happy and prosperous life.”

Donate today to help make more dreams come true.

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The Grade 11 student lives in Matero, a high-density neighbourhood in Lusaka, Zambia. Last year, her school’s health club coordinator suggested that she get her eyes checked at the Matero Vision Centre, a clinic established with Operation Eyesight’s support in 2021. From there, Vanessa was referred to Lusaka’s University Teaching Hospital.  

At the hospital, Vanessa received a diagnosis for cataracts. She also learned that she has diabetes, a metabolic disease that put her at a high risk of developing various eye conditions, including cataracts. Doctors helped her get her blood sugar levels under control and she underwent surgery on both eyes.  

But Vanessa’s struggles weren’t over yet. After the cataract surgery, she went back to school but still had trouble reading the blackboard, and she couldn’t see clearly at night. Her grades continued to slip, and she had trouble concentrating in class. During a follow-up appointment, Vanessa was told she also needed eyeglasses. She received a prescription, but her parents couldn’t afford the cost of the glasses. 

Working with our partners at the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, we paired up Vanessa with the eyeglasses she needed. Since 2021, EssilorLuxottica has provided thousands of eyeglasses to patients at the Matero and Maamba Vision Centres in Zambia so that more children like Vanessa can get a pair of glasses quickly and free of charge. 

Now, Vanessa proudly wears her tortoiseshell-framed glasses to school every day. “Now, I can see faraway objects clearly,” she said. “This will help me concentrate in class and achieve my dream of becoming a doctor.” 

With files from Zambia Program Manager Kelly Kaira.

Give the Gift of Sight today and help restore sight and independence for more girls like Vanessa. Vision impairment disproportionately affects women and girls, but they are less likely to be prioritized for eye health care. That’s why our Hospital-Based Community Eye Health projects are aimed at reaching everyone in need of eye care, regardless of gender or family income.

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Over the course of the four-year study, the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment in the community was reduced by nearly 62 per cent.   

It’s confirmation that Operation Eyesight’s focus on strengthening local health systems and empowering communities to look after their own eye health is not only effective, but also sustainable.  

“We have known for some time that the presence of vision centres in a community, supported by door-to-door outreach, has a measurable impact on health outcomes for patients and families,” explains Kashinath Bhoosnurmath, our President & CEO and co-author of the study.  

“Data like this only helps us become more effective in achieving our mission of preventing blindness and restoring sight.” 

The study looked at approximately 44,000 people living in an urban slum area in Pune, Maharashtra, India, who were surveyed at a four-year interval by local health workers in the community. Patients identified as having vision loss were referred to Operation Eyesight’s local vision centre partner for more comprehensive examination and treatment if necessary.  

Vision centres also have referral pathways in place for patients who require referral to hospital for surgery or additional treatment.

Over the course of the four-year study, led by Community for Eye Care Foundation, Pune and our team in in India, 8,211 patients were examined at the local vision centre. During this time, the prevalence of blindness due to conditions such as cataracts decreased from 0.25 per cent to 0.1 per cent over four years, and visual impairment decreased from 0.16 per cent to 0.05 per cent.  

Building a lasting presence in the community 

Vision centres are permanent facilities, established in strategic locations within a project area and staffed by trained eye health personnel. In addition to linking the community with the hospital, vision centres also provide eye exams, dispense prescription eyeglasses and refer patients for specialized treatment if needed. Vision centres are critical hubs for communities that do not have access to the most basic of eye healthcare, either due to economic or geographic factors.  

“By providing access to prescription eyeglasses, eye health screening and referral to hospital, the decrease in rates of visual impairment and blindness in this community can be attributed to the presence of the local vision centre,” explains Bhoosnurmath.   

Operation Eyesight’s focus on involving the community at every stage of a project has ensured the sustainability of our vision centres. This includes ensuring that demand is in place for the vision centre’s services and that a flow of revenue will fund the provision of services long-term.    

Operation Eyesight has established 160+ new vision centres across India. Most vision centres become self-funding within six months of operation.  

Recruiting eye health champions 

“The key to the success of vision centres is our ability to recruit local community health workers who provide door-to-door eye health screening,” says Soumya Moosa, one of our Program Managers in India and co-author of the study.    

Moosa says this type of grassroots outreach in the community is particularly beneficial to health outcomes for women. 

“The study found that women continue to have a higher prevalence of blindness and are less likely to seek care in low-income communities like the one surveyed. This is why the counselling by local female health workers is so pivotal to the project’s success.”

To learn more about our work in India, visit operationeyesight.com/india/  

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Many of our donors are familiar with the idea of eye camps; temporary clinics set up to provide eye care to people in rural or remote areas. After all, they’ve been a big part of our efforts for many years, because distance is a huge barrier for many people who need eye care.

But temporary services don’t adequately fill the need and don’t provide long-term services. That’s why Operation Eyesight has embraced a policy of Vision Centre-Based Community Eye Health in India.

Vision centres are permanent facilities, staffed by trained eye care personnel. By locating these centres at strategic population areas, we can provide services like eye exams, diagnosis and referral of eye problems, and the fitting of prescription eyeglasses. An amazing 85 percent of our centres become financially self-sustaining within six months through the sale of custom eyeglasses, which funds the provision of eyeglasses to those unable to afford them.

To date, we have established 68 vision centres across India. The newest centre was established in partnership with Little Flower Hospital at Kanhangad in Kerala state. Through the vision centre, we will also train primary health care workers for the district.

The vision centre in Kanhagand is unique in several ways: we established it on the request of the government of Kerala and in partnership with not just an NGO hospital but also with the district health department of the government. It serves as a model for our work in collaboration with government.

We also recently opened vision centres at Fulenagar in Maharashtra state and at Unnao and Mituali in Uttar Pradesh state, one of the most impoverished states in the country. These newest vision centres are expected to provide services to target populations of about 200,000 people.

The vision centre at Mituali, in particular, is a ray of hope for the people it is meant to serve. Very soon it will become a symbol of aspiration for the poor people of the area and become an instrument of change, not just in eye health but in the overall development of the area and its people.

We hope our donors know just how much of a difference they’re making with these vision centres! Without you, it would not be possible. Thank you!

Visit our Programs & Projects page to learn more about our work in India.

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