Overcoming flies, cows and 30 km to save sight

| By Kashinath Bhoosnurmath, Global Director, Programmes
Categories: Clean Water, Kenya, Our Work
| Tags: ,
Thirty kilometres may not seem like a big distance to us, but it was a huge barrier for Norkitoip, a 45-year-old Kenyan mother of eight. Norkitoip was afflicted with trichiasis, a condition whereby repeated trachoma infections turned her eyelashes inward to rub her cornea. Although she described it as “painful and uncomfortable,” she and her… Continue Reading Overcoming flies, cows and 30 km to save sight

Teacher learns how to help students get an A+ in eye health

| By Kashinath Bhoosnurmath, Global Director, Programmes
Categories: Kenya, Our Work, Prevention
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Janeffer Chepchumba has been teaching at Uhuru Primary School in Nakuru County, Kenya for seven years. In 2013, she added a new topic to her students’ curriculum: eye health. Last fall, the Seeing is Believing Child Eye Health Project, one of our partnerships with Standard Chartered Bank, began training teachers of sighted children in Nakuru… Continue Reading Teacher learns how to help students get an A+ in eye health

Smart phone app developed to screen for vision problems

| By Lynne Dulaney, Former Director of Communications
Categories: Kenya, Our Work, Prevention
| Tags: , , ,
Tackling childhood blindness and visual impairment in low-income countries presents considerable challenges. Infrastructure and human resources are seriously lacking, and systems for accurately testing children for eye conditions and improving follow-up rates are often non-existent or inadequate. If there was a way to improve the way that children’s eyesight is screened and treated across low-income… Continue Reading Smart phone app developed to screen for vision problems

Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 2 of 2)

| By Lynne Dulaney, Former Director of Communications
Categories: Clean Water, Kenya, Our Work
| Tags: , , ,
Seventy-year old Ann Adoyole lives in a tiny village in one of Kenya’s dustiest, most arid regions: West Pokot County. Along with other women and girls in her community, she has spent most of her life searching for and fetching water for her family. Then suddenly, in late 2013, everything changed…! What a difference Ann and… Continue Reading Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 2 of 2)

Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 1 of 2)

| By Lynne Dulaney, Former Director of Communications
Categories: Clean Water, Kenya, Our Work
| Tags: , , ,
Special thanks to our Assistant Director of Africa, Alice Mwangi, for sharing Ann’s story with us! Ann Adoyole is 70 years old, and lives in a village in West Pokot County in Kenya. She has two sons and several grandchildren. Since she came to live in this village after her marriage many years ago, she made the trek on a daily basis… Continue Reading Fresh water saves lives and prevents blindness (Part 1 of 2)