RestoringVision

10/13/2026

Last Thursday was , and we’re not done celebrating. This week, we’re carrying that momentum straight into the field. 👓
 
 
We’re thrilled to be on our second trip in Mexico City with our philanthropic partner National Vision Optometry👓 following our first in April. We’re joined by a new group of volunteers, from optometrists to store associates to district managers, all here to help more people see clearly.
 
 
The group is rocking IAPB eyeglasses in honor of World Sight Day as we wrap this morning’s orientation and training session. Looking forward to today’s vision screenings and the packed week ahead alongside the team!

10/12/2026

Three weeks from today, the first-ever Global Summit for Eye Health will bring the community together around a shared goal: advancing vision for all. On World Sight Day at the United Nations, that spirit of collaboration was already on display.

Our Chief Global Affairs Officer Ambassador Keisha McGuire joined VISION 2020/IAPB Jessica Thompson, partners, and advocates for a U. N. Friends of Vision meeting on Thursday, highlighting the growing recognition that vision and eye health are critical to health, economic opportunity, and development. Throughout the day, they also met with leaders from the diplomatic community, including the Permanent Representatives of Germany and Saudi Arabia. These conversations reflect the kind of cross-sector and cross-border collaboration needed to expand access to vision care and ensure eye health remains on the global agenda.

As we look ahead to the Global Summit for Eye Health, we're encouraged by the growing commitment from governments, multilateral institutions, civil society, and other partners working toward a future where everyone who needs eyeglasses can access them. Because clear vision changes lives and achieving will take all of us.

10/09/2026

As we wrap up , here's a shout-out to all of our partners doing great work in delivering vision screenings & near-vision eyeglasses to those who need them.

Together, we're helping more people access the eyeglasses they need to work, learn, care for their families & fully participate in their communities. Thank you for your partnership and your commitment to expanding access to clear vision.

Shown here with some of our team, are colleagues from Americares, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Food For The Poor, MAP International and The Carter Center.

10/08/2026

Today is . 👓
 
Around the world, more than one billion people live with vision loss that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. For many, the solution is as simple as an eye exam and a pair of glasses. Clear vision opens doors to learning, earning a living, staying safe, and taking part fully in community life.
 
This year’s World Sight Day comes at an important moment. In just a few weeks, governments and eye health leaders will gather in Antigua and Barbuda for the first-ever Global Summit for Eye Health, where countries are preparing commitments to expand access to eye care. Today is a chance to build momentum for that milestone and to show that the global eye health community is united behind a shared goal: eye care for all.
 
RestoringVision is proud to be a Global Partner of World Sight Day, led by IAPB.
 
All week, we have been sharing stories of the people and partners working to make clear vision a reality in communities around the globe, and we will keep sharing them in the days ahead. Follow along, and join us in taking the pledge to . Also, check out IAPB’s Every Story Counts wall today and throughout the month for inspiring stories around the power of clear vision (link in stories).
 
Presbyopia

10/07/2026

We’re sharing multi-partner led progress for eye health in Cambodia as part of week.

In June, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Livelihood Impact Fund supported Cambodia’s National Program for Eye Health to launch a new program: integrating primary eye care into the service package for non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.

For adults over age 40, this means a single, convenient visit for all services at a health center close to home. Across nearly 100 primary health centers in Kampot and Svay Rieng provinces, the program provided eyeglasses to more than 12,000 people in just three months.

Now it’s ready to scale: RestoringVision donated of 75,000 additional glasses to the National Program for Eye Health, which will support expansion to four more provinces. The government also marked two further milestones: the launch of a new Eye Health Governance Project, funded by the The Fred Hollows Foundation to accelerate implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Blindness Prevention and Control, and officially adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategy.

Together, these steps show whats possible when government leadership, donor commitment, and a delivery model built into existing primary care come together.

Cambodia is demonstrating that near vision care doesnt need to be a standalone service or a luxury. It can be a routine part of health care for adults. And for the seamstress, the farmer, the teacher, and the grandparent, it means getting back to the small, precise tasks that make up a working life — needle and thread included.

10/07/2026

Behind every pair of glasses that reaches someone who needs them, there’s a team most people never see.

This week, meet our warehouse team in Ohio. Every day, they sort, clean, bag, pack, and ship the eyeglasses that keep our partners around the world supplied. It’s careful, steady, behind-the-scenes work, and none of our programs would run without it.

When we asked what they love about the job, a few themes came through:
❤️ Knowing that “what we do at work actually helps people”
👓 Helping someone get glasses who never had them before
🤝 A workplace that feels like family

One team member remembered reading about a woman in Peru who, after receiving glasses, could bake again and help support her family. “That really touched me.”

This year’s World Sight Day puts people at the heart of the movement, and that includes the people whose work happens far from the spotlight. To our warehouse team, and to everyone across the eye health sector doing the quiet work that keeps care moving: thank you.

10/06/2026

10/06/2026

“It depends on your heart… what’s in your heart. If you have a good heart, you will be able to work in any conditions, believe me.”

As we approach this Thursday, we're inspired by Liudmyla Atamanchuk, a senior optometrist in Ukraine who travels to communities near the front lines to provide vision screenings and connect people with the care they need. Since January, RestoringVision and the International Charitable Fund "Contribution to Medicine Development" have helped deliver nearly 25,000 pairs of near-vision eyeglasses to people across Ukraine, including communities affected by war.

Despite ongoing challenges, Liudmyla and her colleagues continue to reach people who might otherwise go without eye care, identifying serious eye conditions and providing access to quality vision services where they are needed most.

On World Sight Day and every day, we are proud to stand alongside partners who bring vision care to people in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable.

🎥 Watch Liudmyla's story in the video below.

10/01/2026

"Their face just lights up." 👓

That's how Elisa Hartstein, founder of Operation Ethiopia, describes the moment someone in a displacement camp puts on a pair of eyeglasses and can see again.

In Debre Birhan, about 130 kilometers from Addis Ababa, three camps shelter families who fled militia violence. Each holds roughly 12,000 people, some living in tarp tents for as long as four years. That's where Operation Ethiopia's mobile eye clinics have recently set up.

Their story started almost by accident. In 2014, a family volunteer trip to Gondar ended with hundreds of people lined up to have their eyes checked with nothing more than an iPhone flashlight. Elisa's team made a promise to come back, and they kept it.

Since partnering with RestoringVision in 2019, Operation Ethiopia has:
→ Scaled clinics from a few dozen patients to as many as 400 a day
→ Distributed more than 4,500 pairs of eyeglasses

About 30% of their patients need near-vision eyeglasses. For weavers and farmers, that isn't a convenience. It's what keeps them working.

Read the full story: https://restoringvision.org/story/in-ethiopias-displacement-camps-a-pair-of-eyeglasses-restores-more-than-sight/

09/24/2026

As approaches, our partner in Ukraine, ICF Contribution to Global Medicine, is taking part in the global campaign by conducting eye screenings and raising awareness about the importance of vision care.

Access to good vision can help people learn, work, care for their families, and participate fully in their communities. That's why we're grateful for partners who are helping expand access to eye care and eyeglasses, one screening at a time.

Together, we're building momentum for and a future where everyone can see clearly and reach their full potential.