Increase Earnings,
Extend Working Years, Improve Lives.
Reading Glasses for Improved Livelihoods: it’s the name of our program, and it’s a core tenet of our work and organization. Presbyopia, also known as farsightedness, affects millions across the world. If untreated, presbyopia can severely constrain productivity and livelihoods.
Near Vision Glasses
1.1B people need near vision glasses (readers) globally
Vision Impairment
517m suffer vision impairment due to either lack of or inadequate vision correction .
Productivity Impact
22% increase in Average Productivity amongst tea pickers provided with Reading Glasses in a randomized trial conducted in Assam, India.
RGIL Partnership With BRAC has Successfully Corrected Presbyopia for Millions in Bangladesh and Uganda.
How it works
- Eyemantra.org trains Community Health Volunteers (CHVs), known as Shasto Shebikas in Bangladesh to provide vision screenings at camps and sell glasses.
- Through partner organizations’ networks, glasses are brought to the last mile of some of the most rural areas of countries.
- CHVs receive commission for each sale, incentivizing them to visit more households and provide their services.
- Marketing by Eyemantra.org and local partners drums up interest in biannual vision camps, which are held in each village and offer free screenings, affordable glasses, and referrals as needed. Camps and marketing also help to normalize the wearing of glasses within communities.
Insights & Customer Success Stories
Interested in learning more about our Reading Glasses for Improved Livelihoods Program? Read some of our success stories.
BRAC, Eyemantra.org Expand New Eyeglasses Market
Eyemantra.org and BRAC announced they provided one million pairs of affordable eyeglasses to low-income customers. It is estimated that the RGIL program in Bangladesh has contributed to $110 million in increased income at the household level since it (…)
A Step Closer Toward Attaining Universal Health Care in Kenya
Eyemantra.org and Amref’s RGIL program is delivering on Amref Health Africa’s vision: “Lasting Health Change in Africa” by increasing access to affordable, high quality reading glasses.
3.4 Million Ugandans to Benefit
BRAC Uganda and Eyemantra.org forged a partnership to provide access to high quality, affordable eyeglasses to 3.4 million Ugandans through the Reading Glasses for Improved Livelihoods program.
What People Are Saying
I’m very excited to get my first pair of eyeglasses. I always had to fight with my friends to sit in the first row in class, because I couldn’t read the blackboard from the second. With my glasses, we’ll take turns sitting in the front!
These glasses will let me regain class time for my students. Anyone who has complaints about their sight should get their eyes checked.
Wearing spectacles can be considered taboo, especially among young females. Eyemantra.org, through its efforts in various states in India, is bridging this gap through its awareness campaigns and screening and eyeglass dispensing programs.