KENYA

KENYA

Our Work in Kenya

We have been working to prevent blindness and restore sight in Kenya since 2007 and now have programs covering 148 villages across nine districts and counties. In 2022, we focused on community eye health – especially through school eye health programs and door-to-door screenings – as well as eye health infrastructure and facility improvements across the country.

Trachoma remains one of the leading causes of vision loss in Kenya, and in 2022 we continued our work to eliminate the disease through clean water initiatives, mass distribution of antibiotics and community health education.

In July 2022, we launched the Keroka Vision Centre, to provide primary eye health care in Kisii County. We trained several community health volunteers, who screened more than 10,000 people for eye conditions through door- to-door surveys and referred over 600 people to the new vision centre for treatment.

In Elgeyo Marakwet County, we declared 20 villages Avoidable Blindness-Free, thanks in large part to our local community health volunteers who went door to door, screening over 90 per cent of the target population. We also broke ground on the construction of the operating theatre at the eye unit of Iten County Referral Hospital, so we can provide more services in the county in the future.

Thanks to funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Child Blindness Program, our school eye health program in Uasin Gishu County exceeded targets, screening more than 111,000 children for eye conditions.

We also launched the Vision Impact Project in Kajiado County, in partnership with the county government and CBM Christian Blind Mission. We provided training for eye health personnel, including ophthalmology staff and community health assistants, and began construction of the eye unit at Kajiado County Referral Hospital.

In 2022, we also supported repairs and maintenance of eye care equipment at the eye units of eight partner hospitals across the country.

2022 Impact

90,747

Eye exams

5,750

Sight-saving surgeries

4,295

Pairs of eyeglasses dispensed

20

Villages declared Avoidable Blindness-Free

1 million+

People educated on eye health

75,110

People screened through door-to-door survey

40,923

Students screened through school eye health programs

Learn more about our work in Kenya in 2022.

Success stories from Kenya

Our current priorities in Kenya

  • Expand our school eye health programs  
  • Mass Drug Administration  
  • Rehabilitate more boreholes and provide hygiene and sanitation education  
  • Expand our Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Projects 

How can you help

Contact us today to learn more about philanthropy opportunities in Kenya.