For the first time in history, East Timor now has an association for all eye-care workers.

Optometry Giving Sight seeks to transforms lives through the gift of vision. Recently, Canadian photojournalist Rick Castiglione went to West Africa to document some on-the-ground project work. He recounts some of his experience here.

2012 is set to be a landmark year for the profession of optometry in East Africa - thanks to funding from Optometry Giving Sight, the first locally trained eye care professionals will graduate in Malawi, Mozambique and Mali.

Students of Optometry in Eritrea will be the direct beneficiaries of a $20,000 grant from Alberta’s Community Initiatives Program.  The CIP Program is administered by the Alberta Government Culture and Community ...

Mr Eliabu Mbuguma, a qualified optometrist in Tanzania, is no stranger to facing adversity and challenges. His dedication to serving his community is evident in his commitment to remain in a profession where everyday ...

One of the key aspects of Optometry Giving Sight funded projects is to help to build the profession in countries that previously had no optometric services, thereby securing a sustainable future for eye care service delivery in those countries. This can be a long and difficult process but the persistence and determination of a bunch of passionate people is beginning to bear fruit in Malawi.

Ten year old Truong is one of many to benefit from the opening of a new Refraction Clinic and Optical Workshop, funded by Optometry Giving Sight in conjunction with the International Centre for Eyecare Education, at the Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital in Vietnam.

Thanks to the generous donations of the optical profession in the countries where we operate, Optometry Giving Sight has been able to allocate $5.5 million to 18 projects in 16 countries to date. Recent highlights include...

Optometrists, companies and students across the US showed they have a vision for helping others by taking part in the 5th Annual World Sight Day Challenge (WSDC) in October. This year marked a record year for the campaign as hundreds of doctors, as well as businesses and student groups, raised funds with events, personal or business donations or by donating their eye exam fees on World Sight Day, which was October 13th.

Optometry Giving Sight is providing funding for two VOSH International vision care projects in Central and South America. The first project is to fund the purchase of equipment for an optical laboratory at the newly established School of Optometry at UNAN (National Autonomous University of Nicaragua) in Managua, the country’s capital...

Three dedicated students from Bradford University raised over £2,800 for the World Sight Day Student Challenge. Optometry students Jessica MacIsaac, Fares Hatoum and Abubakr Patel cycled 750 miles over ten days to raise funds for Optometry Giving Sight and Vision Aid Overseas.

William Morris London donated the equivalent amount from every telephone frame order they received during the month of October raising over £400 as part of the World Sight Day Challenge.

Optometrists across Australia joined the 5th World Sight Day Challenge in record numbers this year, with nearly 400 practices taking part. On World Sight Day itself, red t-shirts were out in force, donation boxes on display and lolly jar guessing contests, raffles and bake sales under way.

Since 2006, a team of Australian Optometrists have been travelling to the not so small but unheard of island of Sumba in West Timor, screening, dispensing spectacles and to several thousand Sumbanese, thanks to support from Optometry Giving Sight.

The Irish optical community joined together to take up the World Sight Day Challenge in greater numbers than ever before this October. Optometry students from Dublin Institute of Technology hit the streets armed with donation tins on World Sight Day, managing to collect a total of €220 thanks to the generosity of the general public.

55 golfers were treated to an unusually beautiful day for their annual fundraising round at Moss Vale Golf Club, with the event generating just over $5,000 for Optometry Giving Sight.

Canada’s World Sight Day Challenge proved a great success this year with many returning participants significantly increasing the amounts they raised.  We would love to feature all the wonderful stories and pictures we received from our many participating optometric offices and companies across the country, but we have limited space so here are two samples...

We’re delighted to announce that Optometry Giving Sight has won the AOP’s Charity of the Year for 2011. Our UK operation secured an impressive 54 percent of all votes in the category of 'Charity, Company or Practice of the Year' for the organisation that has done the most to promote and expand optometry, or which has brought the benefits of optics to a wider audience.

To mark World Sight Day on 13 Oct, some 250 Singapore senior citizens on public assistance will have their eyes screened for pathology and refraction at no charge by the optometry departments of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Manchester University.  

 Optometry Giving Sight has invited the management and staff of Eyecare Plus to provide direct support for a new project in India that will give tens of thousands of people faster and more affordable access to the services they need.The project, which is being implemented by the LV Prasad Eye Institute, aims to establish an ophthalmic lens glazing unit in a secondary eye care centre in the state of Andra Pradesh.