Better Vision, Better Learning: How We’re Supporting Children’s Eye Health & Safety

It’s National Children's Eye Health and Safety Month in August in the U.S., but in parts of Tanzania and Kenya, students have access to free vision screenings and prescription glasses every month provided by the SKYGEN International Foundation. 

“Early on we recognized we could fill a need by bringing our mobile vision clinic to schools, and we’ve been warmly welcomed by the students, teachers and school administration,” says Lisa Sweeney, SKYGEN International Foundation Executive Director. “By using a combination of portable vision testing equipment, smartphone technology, SKYGEN’s eyeglass ordering portal and our partner Essilor’s Ready Clip frames and lenses—which allow prescriptions to be filled on the spot—students and teachers are getting vision tests and prescription glasses, sunglasses and reading glasses for the first time in their lives.”

“In our first seven years, we’ve held clinics at 785 schools, provided free vision screenings to nearly 200,000 students and 8,000 teachers, and gifted nearly 16,000 pairs of eyeglasses.”  
—Lisa Sweeney, Executive Director, SKYGEN International Foundation

When Students Can’t See, They Can’t Learn
The Foundation’s origin story actually begins in a classroom. When touring a local school on a trip to Tanzania, SKYGEN founder Craig Kasten realized that many students were having trouble seeing their lessons. A few even had to stand within inches of the blackboard to see their teacher’s notes. He had already been thinking about ways digital technologies could open new doors in healthcare, and this was an opportunity to bring that vision to life.

Under Sweeney’s leadership, the Foundation launched its first week of mobile clinics in July 2018. “The number of people who came to our first clinics was overwhelming,” says Lisa. “That quickly led to our decision to staff and train local teams to carry on the mobile clinics year-round. Once we had local teams in place, we could make vision clinics in schools a priority. With the exception of two COVID years, we’ve held clinics in 150 schools on average each year.”

About three years ago, the Foundation began vision clinics in neighboring Kenya, and also launched a Miracle Corners Tanzania partnership to deliver oral health education outreach and free toothbrush-toothpaste kits gifted by Colgate. Since then, the Foundation has provided dental outreach to nearly 400,000 children.
 

Confidence Starts with Clear Vision
“When children can see clearly and smile with confidence, it changes everything—from how they learn in the classroom to how they see themselves in the world,” says Lisa. “Seeing the smiles of those we serve shows the difference we’re making. Their appreciation is heartfelt, and it energizes us to continue our mission to bring cost-effective vision and dental care to underserved parts of the world.” 

Bright futures for kids start with clear vision. Can you help by making a gift today? A $5 donation will buy a pair of glasses. $500 can provide vision tests and glasses for a small school! Visit our website to donate online. The SKYGEN International Foundation is a GuideStar Platinum-level member.

About SKYGEN
SKYGEN transforms dental and vision benefits management and administration with flexible technology and services that connect and change lives for the better. Through partnerships with payers, providers and government agencies, SKYGEN helps its customers navigate dental and vision benefits management and administration. With its portfolio of third-party administration (TPA), intelligent Software as a Service (SaaS) automation, marketplace connectivity, risk management solutions and above-and-beyond services like Enhanced Benefit Management (EBM), Provider Select Suite platforms, mobile apps and portals, SKYGEN serves nearly 50 million members across all 50 states, more than 40 government and commercial insurers and process 3 million claims monthly. For more information, please visit www.skygenusa.com.