By Aminah Yoba | Sr. Director of Development
Summary
RestoringVision is a global non-profit organization whose mission is to empower lives by restoring the vision of millions of people in need. For the past 18 years, our work has focused on addressing the unmet need for eyeglasses (primarily readers) for people living in poverty who have vision impairments, live in communities lacking access to eyeglasses, have no available income to afford them, or both.
In 2021, RestoringVision aims to reach 100,000 impoverished Guatemalans with basic vision screenings and reading glasses through our Global Access Program. The project has not begun as of this submission. However, it will start in October and conclude by the end of the year. We have yet to market the project on the GlobalGiving platform to increase awareness of our work in Guatemala and drive donors to the associated giving opportunity on the platform. Accordingly, we have not received donations against our goal to date.
The Problem
Over 2.5 billion people worldwide have uncorrected vision impairments that can be solved with a pair of eyeglasses. Of that, 1.1 billion have presbyopia—age-related near vision loss—which can be corrected instantly with a pair of reading glasses. However, while reading glasses are a ubiquitous and easily accessible commodity in countries such as the U.S. and Europe, five hundred million people with presbyopia live in less developed countries and lack access to this life-changing tool. For these individuals, uncorrected vision impairment means a reduction in productivity, safety, independence, educational opportunities, and general quality of life. Moreover, a highly skilled individual may be forced to exit their job early due to uncorrected vision impairment, especially one who relies on seeing clearly to do their work.
For the past 18 years, RestoringVision has worked to create equitable access to eyeglasses for the world's most impoverished people. We provide basic vision screenings and eyeglasses to people living on less than $2 a day at no cost to the beneficiary.
Progress Against Project Goal
As previously stated, our work in Guatemala will begin in October. When it does, we expect to ensure 100,000 individuals living in impoverished Guatemalan communities can regain clear vision through the uptake of reading glasses. In doing so, they will be able to remain productive, safe, and independent and continue to contribute to their communities. In our final report, we will provide updates on the progress of this project. Likewise, in the coming weeks, we will focus our efforts on marketing the GlobalGiving platform on our social media sites and other information dissemination platforms to ensure that potential donors are directed to GlobalGiving to support our project.
From all of us at RestoringVision, thank you. We are honored to be among the non-profit organizations presented on the GlobalGiving platform.
With gratitude,
RestoringVision Team
P.S. Don't forget to follow us on social media!
Facebookwww.facebook.com/restoringvision
Twitter:www.twitter.com/restoringvision
Instagram: www.instagram.com/restoringvision
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