Niels has pretty poor vision so bought himself a pair of glasses. He can afford glasses, but not everybody can. Especially not those living in rural Uganda. This is why he joined forces with his friend William & founded non-profit Grassroots Glasses. Now, they provide access to eye testing & glasses at no cost.
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How we do it:
Grassroots Glasses visits local communities in Uganda’s Kisoro District to educate about eye health, conduct simple eye exams, and provide glasses to those in need. As we provide the most affordable eye care and build a registry of patients with poor vision, we also raise funds to support interventions for those with indications requiring surgery, such as cataracts and glaucoma. Our long-term goal is to construct a national vision ecosystem, from training optometrists to manufacturing our own frames, for local and international sale. In summary, we provide…
Education, awareness & sensitization: Implement a public awareness campaign to educate communities about the importance of eye health and the benefits of wearing glasses for vision correction and how this supports personal life and local society. We conduct workshops and outreach programs to sensitize the population about common eye conditions, the significance of regular eye check-ups, and the impact of poor vision on daily life. The Bwindi 80k Ultra long distance run serves to further sensitize the local communities for our servies and (inter-)national authorities for further support to advance our mission
Eye tests & classification: Free of charge, we organize eye screening sessions to detect vision problems and classify individuals based on their specific needs for vision correction. Based on the results, which are stored in for referencing and allowing to derive trends and long term impact of our actions, we then decide the next steps
Access to affordable glasses: We provide quality, affordable glasses to those in need based on the results of their eye tests, ensuring proper fit and prescription accuracy. Depending on people’s situation, we allow free access to vision support to help unlock potentials
Referral & surgery: Facilitate referrals for individuals requiring advanced eye care, government assistance programs for vision health, or surgical interventions for more serious eye conditions that cannot be corrected with glasses alone
Vocational training & scholarships in ophthalmology for economic development: With the growing knowledge level of eye care, we plan to sponsor and develop professional training to strengthen the local community through technical training related to eye health