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Channel: Vision Ambassador – Essilor See Change

Empowering women in Rio’s favelas to become Vision Ambassadors

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In 2015, Essilor’s 2.5 New Vision Generation launched its Vision Ambassador program in China, India and Brazil. This inclusive business model has now been adapted to help people in the favelas of Rio get access to the eye care they need. We spoke to Rosana, a Vision Ambassador who told us how she is impacting the lives of people in her community while improving her own livelihood.

Rosana is a resident of Morro da Formiga, a favela with a strong community spirit in the Northern zone of Rio de Janeiro. Morro da Formiga is one of 144 sites of Rio’s reforestation program, with cooperatively managed water infrastructure, community gardens, horticulture lessons, and beekeeping.

Rosana is well known in the favela. She is a member of the Asplande NGO, a non-profit organization established in 1992. Its mission consists in planning, implementing and monitoring cooperative and community enterprises with a particular focus on business opportunities for women. It was thanks to a presentation to Asplande NGO by the Instituto Ver e Viver, a social business created by Essilor’s 2.5 New Vision Generation, that Rosana first heard about the part-time Vision Ambassador program and decided to join up.

Rosana has been a Vision Ambassador for four months now. Although she is only able to dedicate a little amount of her time to the program, she has already successfully helped close to 100 people arrange an appointment with an ophthalmologist. And she has sold 58 pairs of glasses to people who are correcting their eyesight for the first time in their lives.

In India and China Vision Ambassadors undergo a one day training course after which they are able to carry out basic screening tests and to sell reading glasses and sunglasses to populations living in under-served rural areas. In Brazil, however, people need to have a prescription from an ophthalmologist in order to purchase their glasses. And the cost of glasses is often considered a barrier by the largest population of people with uncorrected vision who live in the underprivileged outskirts of big cities.

The role of the Vision Ambassadors in Brazil is therefore to help people in their communities to procure a pair of affordable glasses once they have got their prescription. They do  this by using a digital app on their smartphones that has been developed to help read the prescription and propose the appropriate lenses and frames.

The program matches my ideology. I always liked to do social work and to promote something that is important to the population.

When asked why she decided to join the Vision Ambassador program, Rosana explains: “The program matches my ideology. I always liked to do social work and to promote something that is important to the population. I never thought that I needed to be just a beneficiary; on the contrary, we should think and act in networks. This is an opportunity for me to expand my relationship network and to help the Vision Ambassador project to grow. Finally, it allows me to have an extra income to finish work in my house, so this program can potentially add great value to my life.”

The program has been very well received in Rosana’s community: “My audience is really extensive. I cannot say that the entire community knows me, because Morro da Formiga is very big. But I am expanding it with the sales; many people who already know me also talk about what I am doing to other people.” To increase her outreach even further, Rosana organized her first information event last month. “The event took place at the Samba Court, on May 11. I have already recruited other ambassadors and I am communicating it on my social networks. This will help the Vision Ambassador program to become more known.”

I do not believe in secrets. For me, understanding the work methodology and being ethical are the tools to stand out.

Following her promising first steps as a Vision Ambassador, we asked Rosana to share her secret with us and to tell us what she thinks makes her one of the rising stars in this program. Her answer was pragmatic: “I do not believe in secrets. For me, understanding the work methodology and being ethical are the two most important things that guide me. I always say that being a reference for people helps a lot when it comes to selling. Nobody wants to buy from a person that does not seem to be reliable. So you must have a good reputation and a reliable attitude.” Rosana seems indeed to have a great network within the community and to be able to evoke people’s trust. “My image is my visiting card, I have to be honest. I guess that is why I am successful. I believe that there is a lot of success to come; we build each step, and I want to be a part of the Vision Ambassador history in the future.”

Currently Brazil has 77 Vision Ambassadors. In May 2016, the program sponsored ophthalmological appointments in popular clinics in Rio de Janeiro to enable people to get their first vision test. This is a small step in a country with 201 million inhabitants of whom about 55% require vision correction and 30 to 40 million are not corrected. Thanks to people like Rosana, the 2.5 New Vision Generation and Ver e Viver teams hope to start bridging the gap, and to improve the people of Rio’s favelas’ lives by improving their sight.

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Essilor joins Business Call to Action

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Inclusive business is good for business and good for development – this is the core belief of Business Call to Action, a multilateral alliance of global corporations, that Essilor has just joined with a commitment to expand access to vision care in developing countries. 

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With three years of inclusive business deployment behind us, and over 2.5 million lives impacted through improved access to vision care, Essilor has now joined Business Call to Action (BCtA). The BCtA is a global initiative that aims to support private-sector companies’ efforts to fight poverty through their core business. It is supported by several international organizations and hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Through this membership we become part of a global network with more than 158 companies which are committed to improve the lives and livelihoods of millions by engaging low-income people as consumers, producers, suppliers, and distributors of goods and services.

Essilor’s Vision Ambassador and Eye Mitra programs are two examples of how we intend to meet our commitment. Since 2013 these models, developed by our inclusive business arm 2.5 New Vision Generation, are helping to improve access to locally affordable vision care and create the next generation of Essilor customers. These programs also contribute to the creation of jobs and improvement of livelihoods by training  local individuals to become vision entrepreneurs.

Not only is this ecosystem generating employment and alleviating poverty, but it is building a sustainable vision care infrastructure in underserved areas.

“Through our inclusive business models, we are creating a sustainable ecosystem that is helping Essilor to penetrate new and previously inaccessible markets,” saiys Jayanth Bhuvaraghan, Chief Mission Officer of Essilor. “In the process, we expect to create 40,000 new primary eye care providers to raise awareness and improve access to affordable vision care. Not only is this ecosystem generating employment and alleviating poverty, but it is building a sustainable vision care infrastructure in underserved areas.”

Creating sustainable business ecosystems in underserved areas is at the very heart of inclusive business. Essilor is doing just that by training local people as entrepreneurs and offering quality, low-cost eyewear that improves lives and livelihoods.

Paula Peleaz, Programme Manager of the BCtA also confirms that Essilor reflects the core idea of inclusive business and welcomes us as a global partner: “Creating sustainable business ecosystems in underserved areas is at the very heart of inclusive business. Essilor is doing just that by training local people as entrepreneurs and offering quality, low-cost eyewear that improves lives and livelihoods. We applaud their commitment and are pleased to welcome them as a BCtA member.”

Read the BCtA press release here.

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Vision Care at Your Fingertips

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With more mobile devices in the world than number of people, huge swathes of the global population now have access to services previously out of their reach. From rural India to the favelas of Rio, recent advances in mobile health are helping to provide access to health care for communities that were previously completely cut off from established services. Vision care is no exception. Jayanth Bhuvaraghan, Chief Mission Officer, Essilor International, explores how mobile health can help bring eye care to low-income consumers in developing countries.

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Two years ago, the number of mobile devices in the world officially overtook the number of people, and this milestone couldn’t have been hit without the exponential growth in emerging markets. Over a billion mobile phones are used in India, for example – more than three times the number owned by Americans. And while a mobile phone in the developed world is a convenience, in the developing world it can be a lifeline, particularly in rural areas. Where previously huge swathes of the population was socially excluded, mobile devices now have the potential to provide information on the latest commodity prices or weather forecasts, and put access to commerce, banking and even healthcare within reach of even the most remote communities.

From rural India to the favelas of Rio, recent advances in mobile health are helping to provide access to health care for communities that were previously completely cut off from established clinics. Vision care is no exception: with 2.5 billion living with the social and economic consequences of uncorrected poor vision, the potential to change lives through a simple touch of a phone screen is an unprecedented opportunity that NGOs and private sector corporations alike are seizing with both hands.

Connecting communities for better vision

Mobile technology is already being used around the world to facilitate the last mile delivery of products and services. This is the case with Instituto Ver e Viver’s Vision Ambassador program in Brazil, which works in the poor communities of Rio to train individuals to step up and work as primary providers of vision care. Using a digital app on their phones to read prescriptions, the Vision Ambassadors are able to propose and sell low-cost eyeglasses on-site to friends and neighbours who would otherwise never have been able to afford to correct their sight.

Using a digital app on their phones to read prescriptions, the Vision Ambassadors are able to propose and sell low-cost eyeglasses on-site to friends and neighbours who would otherwise never have been able to afford to correct their sight.  

The Vision Ambassadors are also leveraging their phones to raise awareness of the vision screenings camps they organise. They use their own social media profiles, or, for guaranteed success, call upon local ‘digital marketers’ in their communities who for a very small sum will help advertise their work via extensive WhatsApp networks.  The majority of Ambassadors are women, and the extra income they earn helps increase their financial independence while improving the health and prosperity of other residents in their community.

Making life easier for primary service providers in India

While using mobile technology to bridge the gap between patient and provider is an obvious solution to healthcare challenges, it can also make life easier for primary providers by simplifying financial management. Essilor’s Eye Mitra Optician (EMO) inclusive business initiative recruits and trains under-employed youth to bring affordable eye care to rural and semi-urban communities in India. Although the initiative is only three years old, 1,800 EMOs have already been trained and have today served upwards of 400,000 customers in their communities. To help them to manage their finances, a mobile phone-based money transfer service is being piloted with 141 EMOs in Karnataka. As well as increasing the transparency of payments, the service is also making the process quicker and easier, freeing up the EMOs to spend more time conducting vision screening in their communities. Next in line for digitization will be the ordering process itself, simplifying the task of stock selection to the click of a button.

While using mobile technology to bridge the gap between patient and provider is an obvious solution to healthcare challenges, it can also make life easier for primary providers by simplifying financial management.

A Peek into mobile disruption

Even if 70,000 individuals were screened each day, it would still take a century to reach each of the 2.5 billion people affected by uncorrected poor vision. This is before taking into account the number of technicians who would need to be trained to conduct the tests, or the cost of the equipment involved. That’s where mobile applications like Peek Acuity come into play. Peek is a mobile application that can be paired with a lens adapter to convert an ordinary smart phone into a vision screening device. It is accurate, as proved by randomized trials in rural Kenya, and, importantly, it is fast. In 2015, 25 teachers across 50 schools used the device to screen 20,000 in just two weeks. This is the sort of disruptive technology that, if brought to scale, would unlock the potential to improve the sight of millions of people around the world.

Calling all innovators

While mobile health technology is already being used to improve how vision care is brought to low-income consumers in underserved communities, the examples above are just the start. An easy-to-use and affordable technology that could administer a reliable eye check would change lives at a revolutionary scale and speed. A few promising examples of this are being tested today, but they are often either too costly or too complex in terms of the training required to ensure that an accurate reading is obtained. In other cases, namely in remote or rural villages, the vision measurement process may not be easily understood by children and the elderly, leading to potential inaccurate diagnosis and the many consequences that can incur.

Essilor has launched the See Change Challenge to uncover low-cost and scalable solutions that can be used by primary vision care providers to measure refractive errors in underserved areas. While mobile health is a rich vein to be tapped by potential entrants, the Challenge is not limited to would-be app-developers. Essilor is appealing to innovators across all disciplines to lend their expertise to develop any solution that can meet the criteria outlined on the See Change Challenge website. Winning solutions will receive financial awards – €25,000 in cash for up to five winners of the first phase and an additional €100,000 for up to two final winners – as well as the chance to see their solution scaled to make a lasting and tangible impact in underprivileged communities around the world.

Be part of the solution: The See Change Challenge is open for applications until October 21, 2016. Read more about the Challenge and how to apply here.

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Partnering to help Chinese school children in the fight against myopia

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In a country where an expected 700 million people will be myopic by 2020, Essilor Vision Foundation China is accelerating its fight against poor vision through both existing and new partnerships that are bringing vision care to thousands of school children in underserved regions.

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China is facing a visual health crisis: over 340 million people of all ages in China unnecessarily suffer from poor vision. Older people are experiencing age-related visual defects at a younger age and the levels of myopia among younger generations are constantly rising: by 2020, nearly 700 million people are expected to have myopia in China. Over the last two years, Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) has developed several partnerships focused on organising large-scale vision screening events in educational institutions and distributing free spectacles wherever needed.

Ongoing efforts with strong partners 

Last year EVF teamed up with the Aier Eye Hospital Group, the largest private eye hospital group in China,  to launch the Eye Do program. Less than a year after its launch, over 100,000 students from around 100 schools have been screened, of which over 10,000 children received the spectacles they need to see clearly. Thanks to this success, the program was awarded “The Best Charity Project of the Year 2015” at the China Charity Festival in Beijing in January. It is now entering its 2nd year and is expanding its actions into  Guangxi Zhuang, an autonomous region, located in South Central China, whose population is equivalent to that of Spain.

Educating the parents is as important as educating the students.

Xie Yuanpo Primary School, where the program recently kicked-off, is just one example of the many schools in this region. The school’s principal comments: “The students are mostly from migrant worker families and the parents do not have much time to spend on their children’s study or vision health. Sometimes they just give their cell phone to the students as a toy, which makes their vision worse. Educating the parents is as important as educating the students.”

There are several barriers to ensuring these children have good vision: firstly there is the financial handicap as families may not be able to bring their children to an infrastructure that provides eye care services or to pay for a pair of spectacles if needed. A second problem is the lack of awareness of the importance of good vision and the negative consequences sight problems can have on a child’s ability to learn and to concentrate.

One of the teachers explains: “Some kids can’t see clearly. They have difficulty to read what I write on the board. However no one really tells them that they would need a pair of glasses and they won’t ask for it.”

Institutions such as these are the target of this extended partnership which aims to cover 50 schools in the region and to screen 57,000 children.

Extending outreach to 10 more provinces 

In parallel to the Eye Do program, EVF China has now joined hands with the 2nd largest local eye hospital group, Bright Eye. Together they launched the ‘Bright Eyes Kids Vision Program’ in May 2016. This new partnership will enable EVF China to extend its reach to 10 more provinces and to help an additional 30,000 children. Since the launch of the program over 3,000 children in Lanzhou, Hefei and Kunming have benefited from screening events and almost 500 have been equipped with a pair of spectacles.

Earlier this month, the program traveled to the prefecture of Yushu in southwestern Qinghai province to bring vision care to over 1,000 children in the region.  The average altitude in Yushu is about 4,493 meters, so the combination  of harsh UV light with the lack of eye care services has resulted in a very high rate of vision impairment in the region. Over the course of one week, 3 local schools were visited and 210 children were diagnosed as myopic and will receive a customized pair of eyeglasses in early October. In addition, 10 children were referred for a free surgery from Bright Hospital.

I want to become a teacher and now that I can see properly I will study even harder to realize my dream.

One of the beneficiaries, Zhuoma, shared her experience with us: “I started to have poor vision 6 months ago. I suddenly found it very difficult to see the blackboard, but I couldn’t go to the doctor, and then it started to get worse.” There was a bright smile on her face when she was choosing the frame for her first pair of spectacles and she told us: “I want to become a teacher and now that I can see properly I will study even harder to realize my dream.” Another child, Lacuo, said he wanted to go to Peking University when he is older and he should therefore protect his vision carefully. After university, he wants to return to Yushu, his hometown, to help his parents and take care of his sister, and his neighborhood.

Good vision: fundamental to succeed at school and in life 

Many studies have looked at the association between visual impairment and poor school performance; among children who have difficulties reading, as many as 80% show a deficiency in one or more basic vision skills. It has also been proven that testing children’s vision and equipping them with glasses if needed has a higher positive impact on their performance than any other educational intervention. Children have their dreams and aspirations: a pair of spectacles may not guarantee they fulfill these but seeing clearly can help them live better every day and enable them to get closer to their goals.

The post Partnering to help Chinese school children in the fight against myopia appeared first on Essilor See Change.

Meeting Vision Ambassadors in Timor Island, Indonesia

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Even with the accolade of  “paradise on earth” Timor Island in Indonesia is just one of the many remote locations of the world that suffer from a lack of primary vision care providers. We met four locals who recently joined our Vision Ambassador program to help provide basic eye care to people living in underserved areas. Yohanna La’a, Maria Seko and the couple Oscar and Florinda told us what drove them to train as a Vision Ambassador.

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A successful sustainable business model 

Essilor’s inclusive business arm 2.5 New Vision Generation (2.5 NVG) was launched in 2013 to provide vision care to the 2.5 billion people in the world who don’t have access to the vision correction they need.  Most of these people, around 90%, live in developing countries, where conventional distribution channels simply don’t exist. In 2015 the team launched the Vision Ambassador program, a model that trains people to become basic vision care providers with a dual objective: helping to build a local vision care infrastructure and, at the same time, creating a sustainable ecosystem that generates employment and alleviates poverty.

Indonesia, a country with 250 million people who live on more than 17,000 islands, suffers from a drastic shortage of eye care professionals and optical stores. Additionally, as in many developing countries – existing eye care services are based in urban centres and therefore not accessible for people living in remote areas.

Reaching people thanks to local partnerships

One of the key strengths of the program is its local adaptation to the specific needs, challenges and opportunities of each country. As such, local business developers partner with whichever organisations make the most sense, from public and private hospitals, to non-governmental organizations, skills-building agencies and other inclusive businesses. In Indonesia, the Vision Ambassador program was first piloted in 2015 but it was only last year that partners were found who could help deploy the program.

The four Vision Ambassadors we met are all based in Soe, Timor Island. With its 37,000 inhabitants, the city seems more like a village than a city compared to other heavily populated metropolitan areas in Indonesia. 2.5 NVG worked with a small local partner Besi Pa’e to kick-start the program locally. Besi Pa’e is an Indonesian NGO with the mission to alleviate poverty throughout local communities by providing access to the resources, knowledge, information and technology needed to support sustainable activities into the future. These objectives were perfectly in line with 2.5 NVG’s aims and the organization was a great opportunity to reach locals and to introduce them to the program.

Yohanna La’a – a community contact point for vision problems  

Yohanna La’a is one of the members of Besi Pa’e and actively engages in social work. Before joining the Vision Ambassador program, Yohanna was already aware of the importance and impact of good vision and helped to facilitate free cataract surgeries conducted by Besi Pa’e. Yohanna is well known in her neighborhood thanks to her active involvement in the church; now everyone in her community knows that she is the right contact for any near sight vision problems. A retired civil servant, she was fully dependent financially on her pension. As a Vision Ambassador, she is now not only able to provide information about vision and glasses to her community, but she can also earn a little extra income.

Now everyone in her community knows that she is the right contact for any near sight vision problems.

Maria Seko – promoting good vision as a life and work facilitator 

Maria Seko also heard about the Vision Ambassador program through Besi Pa’e. She is a teacher at a private pre-Kindergarten school. At work she observes every day how older colleagues and fellow teachers struggle to carry out their profession due to difficulties to see clearly. She explains: “Many of my colleagues and friends here had the same problem starting from a certain age, they just couldn’t see things up close. A pair of glasses can easily help them to regain their ability to see clearly and to be fully productive.” Being able to help these people with such a simple solution as a pair of ready-made glasses was a major incentive for Maria to join the Vision Ambassador program. And she personally wears the glasses that she sells, which is why many of her customers have confidence in her.

Many of my colleagues and friends here had the same problem starting from a certain age, they just couldn’t see things up close.

Oscar and Florinda – the dream vision team

Oscar and Florinda are probably the only Vision Ambassador couple to have joined the program to date. Oscar works as a driver and Florinda is a housewife. Together they regularly travel to rural areas where they screen people and bring them the glasses they need literally to their doorsteps. Most of their customers have never done an eye test before in their lives. As a team, they can join their forces and Oscar can easily combine this activity with his job as a driver. He explains: “It is good to have a job that helps people and makes them happy. The program has many benefits and I am actually thinking about becoming a full-time Vision Ambassador.”

It is good to have a job that helps people and makes them happy.

Just a few examples that show how the motivation for people to join the Vision Ambassador program is as different as their backgrounds. But at the end of the day they are each contributing to the shared mission of improving lives by making affordable vision care accessible to everyone, everywhere.

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Improving access to vision care through inclusive business models

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Launched in 2013, Essilor’s inclusive business arm 2.5 New Vision Generation (2.5 NVG) provides vision care to underserved populations where people do not have access to conventional distribution channels. Through inclusive business models such as Eye Mitra or Vision Ambassadors, 2.5 NVG is creating a sustainable ecosystem that is not only generating employment and alleviating poverty, but is also building a task-force of skilled vision care providers in underserved areas. To date, over 4,000 primary vision care providers have been trained in seven countries.

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Meeting Vision Ambassadors in Ivory Coast

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Ivory Coast is among Africa’s most prosperous nations, but it still suffers from many disparities, in particular between rural and urban areas. We spoke to some Vision Ambassadors who joined the 2.5 New Vision Generation program in January, about how the simple task of providing near vision correction can contribute to reducing inequalities within their communities. 

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Making vision care accessible in rural areas

Today Ivory Coast is often described as one of the most prosperous West African nations. In 2016, this world’s top exporter of cocoa and raw cashew nuts, and a net exporter of oil, was the fastest growing economy in Africa. Nevertheless, nearly half of its 20.6 million people live in poverty with no access to electricity. Rural areas in particular lack access to basic services.

One essential service that is drastically underdeveloped in remote rural areas is eye care due to a shortage of the relevant professionals and appropriate distribution channels. At Essilor we are tackling this issue through both large awareness raising and screening events combined with the donation of glasses where necessary, and through the provision of training for local people in basic vision care skills. These primary vision care providers, or Vision Ambassadors, help to create awareness for the importance of good vision in their own communities, carry out basic vision screenings and sell reading glasses and sunglasses.

Empowering women and strengthening community engagement 

In developing countries, inequalities between rural and urban areas are not just a consequence of the absence of basic services, but also of gender disparities, which are usually larger in villages than in cities. Although international organisations such as the World Bank are actively trying to improve this situation, the gaps still exist and often prevent women from playing an active role in society.

Together with local partners such as the NGO CARE which has a particular focus on projects that empower girls and women, the Vision Ambassador program in Ivory Coast addresses women and men alike. Many women that have joined the program, previously supported their husbands in their agricultural activities. As Vision Ambassadors they are able for the first time to earn their own small income.

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It changed a lot of things in my life, I can spare a little bit of money, which I put in a savings system. 

Yao Ahou Honorine, from a town in central Ivory Coast in Lacs District, and a mother of five, underlines the financial independence that she has achieved since becoming a Vision Ambassador earlier this year: “It changed a lot of things in my life: I can spare a little bit of money, which I put in a savings system. It is also better for my family.”

Additionally this business model enables women to engage more with other villagers. Diabakaté Sita, a 35 year old woman from Dabakala – a town in northeast Ivory Coast in the Vallée du Bandama District – heard about the Vision Ambassador program from a member of her community. The mother of six was previously helping her husband with cashew and peanuts cultivation. Working as a Vision Ambassador suddenly enabled her to become more mobile and to interact with others: “I’m going out of my house more, I can go to other villages. Before I was staying at home a lot as my husband was not very fond of the idea of me going out, but he went to discuss with the village chief and the village chief said it was OK for me to go outside for this project.”

I’m going out of my house more, I can go to other villages.

The program is also a way for women to gain recognition and respect. Outtara Kati, also from Dabakala and mother of six children, explains: “I’m respected, people come to me. Some people even envy me, they say it’s a good activity because it helps poor people, the price of the eyeglasses is good.”

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I have made a lot of relations; now I can enter into the city hall or in the prefecture easily.

Gaining the respect of others and getting more involved in the community seems to also be an important benefit of the program for male Vision Ambassadors. Ouattara Tingnin Ismaël, a 28 year old from Katiola, another village in the north-eastern Bandama District, says: “I’m working two times more. It’s good as I’m more in contact with communities and I earn more money.” Similarly, Yao Kouassi Lazare, a 54 year old from Sakassou, a town in central Ivory Coast, underlines the life changing impact the work as a Vision Ambassador has had on him: “It changed a lot of things in my life. I have made a lot of relations; now I can enter into the city hall or in the prefecture easily.”

Seeing lives changing

Vision Ambassadors are changing their own lives but also the lives of their customers who can learn and work better.  “I sold glasses to my friend and they changed his life, so I’m happy. He can see his phone, see letters…It also protects his eyes,” explains Ouattara Ambédia, another Vision Ambassador from Katiola.

I sold glasses to my friend and they changed his life, so I’m happy.

The sunglasses and reading glasses sold by the Vision Ambassadors are financially accessible without compromising on quality. “Some people say that the sunglasses I sold them are better than the ones they were using before. Also people are happy about the price of readers regarding the good quality they have. Some had outdated readers and I changed their glasses for them,” explained Ismaël when asked what his customers said about his products, which are all part of a range developed by 2.5 NVG  for base of the pyramid, or low-income, customers.

Since the first launch of the Vision Ambassador model in China in 2015 by Essilor’s inclusive business arm, 2.5 New Vision Generation (2.5 NVG), almost 2,000 people globally have been trained in countries where eye care services simply didn’t exist or have been available exclusively in urban areas.  In Africa, the program is also under development in Kenya and South Africa and pilots will soon start in Senegal.

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Transforming lives through better vision in rural China

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Meet our Vision Ambassadors in Anhui Province, Eastern China, and learn how they are improving the lives of their local communities through better vision. 340 million Chinese people have uncorrected poor vision and the country suffers from a critical shortage of eye care professionals and services. The Vision Ambassador program creates access to vision correction and protection by training people from rural areas to carry out basic vision screenings and sell glasses to local villagers. With 2,000 active Vision Ambassadors in China, India, Brazil and several South-East Asian and African countries, this is one of Essilor’s flagship inclusive business models to reach the 2.5 billion people globally who don’t have access to the eye care they need. 

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A look at the Vision Ambassadors in Kenya

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Access to eye care shouldn’t be taken for granted especially when 90% of the world’s 2.5 billion people who suffer from uncorrected vision live in developing nations. This is why in 2013 Essilor created its inclusive business arm, 2.5 New Vision Generation (2.5 NVG) to provide access to affordable vision care where it’s needed most. Since its launch, 2.5 NVG has trained nearly 4800 men and women to become primary vision care providers across Asia and Africa and Latin America. 

In Kenya – a country where 8 million people suffer from uncorrected poor vision – the Vision Ambassador model was launched at the end of 2016. To date almost 200 people have been trained to carry out basic vision screenings and sell ready-made glasses and sun-glasses to low income consumers thanks to this program. Here are some pictures which show the great work they are doing and the lives they’re improving by improving sight.

Domiana Mwikali – a community Health Worker in South C, Nairobi, Mukuru Kayaba, and a Vision Ambassador since 2016 – walking through her neighborhood bringing eye care to people’s doorsteps.

A member of Domiana’s community receives her first eye test thanks to Domina and 2.5 NVG.

Apart from working as a Vision Ambassador, Domiana trains other members of her community who want to give people access to eye care.

Evelyn Sombua is one of them. She is now working as a Vision Ambassador and proud to be able to support her family with extra income.

An elderly woman received her first pair of R2C (Ready2Clip™) glasses. The R2C product range was launched by 2.5 NVG to provide on the spot affordable vision care without compromising on quality.

Vision Ambassador Rachael Kawangware, equips a community member with a new pair of spectacles. Good vision can change lives: for her, an income opportunity, for him, a way to learn, work and be safe.

Not all Vision Ambassadors are mobile. Mr. Jesse Kirowo, based in Kitengela, Kajiado County, is a pharmacist who was trained to become a primary vision care provider. He now sells reading glasses and sunglasses in his pharmacy.

Photos: Mathias Magg (http://mathiasmagg.com/)

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Improving lives and livelihoods in Kenya

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With over 5,000 primary eye care providers trained in China, India, South East Asia and Africa, we have considerably scaled up our efforts to increase awareness and access to vision correction in Base of the Pyramid countries since 2013. Meet some of​ our Vision Ambassadors in Kenya and learn how they improve the lives of their community and their own livelihood through better vision.

The post Improving lives and livelihoods in Kenya appeared first on Essilor See Change.





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