More Than Water: How Clean Water Helps Protect Sight in Zambia

In 2025, access to clean water changed life for more than 36,000 people in Zambia through the rehabilitation of 72 boreholes. While clean water is often associated with improved health and sanitation, its impact reaches even further. It helps protect sight, prevent disease and create healthier communities where children and families can thrive.

For many communities, a reliable source of clean water is not always close to home. Families may spend hours each day collecting water, often from sources that are unsafe or contaminated. The consequences extend beyond inconvenience. Without access to clean water, communities face a higher risk of preventable diseases, including trachoma, a painful eye disease that can lead to blindness if left untreated.

That is why clean water is an important part of Operation Eyesight's vision for lasting eye health.

In Zambia, boreholes supported through donor generosity are providing communities with safe, reliable access to clean water. These projects are helping prevent the spread of disease while improving the health and well-being of thousands of people.

Clean water makes good hygiene possible. It allows families to wash their hands and faces regularly, helping reduce the transmission of infections that can damage sight and affect overall health. When combined with community education on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), the impact is even greater.

Prevention is at the heart of this work.

Too often, blindness and visual impairment are addressed only after problems develop. Yet many eye conditions can be prevented by improving the conditions that help people stay healthy in the first place. Access to clean water is one of those essential building blocks.

The benefits can be seen throughout the community. Children are healthier and spend more time in school. Parents spend less time caring for preventable illnesses and more time supporting their families. Communities become more resilient, with better opportunities to learn, work and prosper.

A borehole is much more than a source of water. It is an investment in health, education and opportunity. It helps create conditions where people can protect their sight, maintain their dignity and build brighter futures.

For the more than 36,000 people reached through these efforts in Zambia in 2025, access to clean water means more than convenience. It means a healthier future and a stronger foundation for generations to come.

Thanks to supporters like you, communities have access to clean water and the health benefits that come with it, now and for years to come. Together, we are helping prevent avoidable blindness, protect vision and create lasting change.

Did you know?
When you support water borehole projects, you support eye health and gender equality. Safe water and hygiene helps prevent trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. For women and girls, a nearby source of clean water reduces time hauling water. This means they spend more time in
school and earning a living.

You can help create healthier communities and protect sight. Your support helps provide access to clean water, eye health services and community education that prevent avoidable blindness before it starts.

Donate today and help bring life-changing eye health care within reach for more families.