What began as a series of cataract camps in Sub-Saharan Africa has grown into a powerful global movement—one that is redefining how preventable blindness is addressed across vulnerable communities.
Since 2011, Visió Sense Fronteres (Vision Without Borders) has been working on the ground in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing free cataract surgeries to those most in need. While these life-changing interventions restored sight to thousands, it soon became clear that long-term impact required a more sustainable, community-driven approach.
The guiding belief was simple yet profound: no one should suffer from preventable blindness simply because of where they live.
In 2024, a transformative collaboration took shape between AMMACHI Labs, the Center for Women’s Empowerment & Gender Equality at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and Visió Sense Fronteres. Together, they launched the Amrita Eye Care Champions program—a vocational initiative designed to train rural women and community members in the early detection of eye diseases.
The program goes beyond conventional training. By combining digital learning with hands-on practice, it equips community health workers with the skills needed to identify vision problems early, ensuring timely referrals and preventing avoidable blindness before it begins.
Following a successful pilot in Samburu County, Kenya, the curriculum was refined in late 2024 to better serve learners with low literacy levels. Twelve animated educational videos were introduced alongside a digital learning platform, enabling wider participation and deeper understanding.
In 2025, the initiative scaled significantly. Thirty-two optometry students from Masinde Muliro University were trained and are now preparing to mentor 640 village-level volunteers—creating a powerful multiplier effect across rural communities.
To support global expansion, the program has already been translated into Swahili, Spanish, and French, paving the way for implementation across Africa, Latin America, and India.
This February marks another milestone. The Amrita Eye Care Champions program will begin training local community health promoters in Honduras using the digital Skillelabs platform. Accessible via smartphones and laptops, the platform ensures that high-quality eye care education reaches even the most remote regions.
By blending technology, community empowerment, and practical medical knowledge, the initiative is building a sustainable global network of grassroots eye care advocates—one community at a time.
As this journey continues from Sub-Saharan Africa to Central America and beyond, the mission remains unchanged: to eliminate preventable blindness through education, empowerment, and equitable access to care.
