Helping Children and Families See Possibilities with Vision Care
Vision care is out of reach for many children and families across the United States because it is too expensive or difficult to access. As many as 4 million children and 12 million adults in the US are living with impaired vision due to an uncorrected refractive error. Without clear vision, children may struggle to […]
Back to School: Helping Students Thrive with Clear Vision [Photo Essay]
As a new school year starts, students across the US are returning to the classroom, but too many will struggle because they can’t see clearly. Helen Keller Intl works with schools and community organizations in California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York to provide vision screenings and prescription glasses to children and their families – […]
Improving Vision Care in Cameroon
More than 26 million children and adults in Africa are living with some form of visual impairment. As many as 15 percent of these experience vision loss because of common refractive errors, such as near-sightedness or astigmatism, which can be corrected with a simple pair of eyeglasses. Although a majority of people with refractive error […]
Building Upon Our Legacy of Health, Nutrition, and Vision
Over the past several decades, Helen Keller Intl has continued to expand our ability to help people around the world create lasting change in their own lives. Today, we reach more than 70 million children and family members across 20 countries with the essential building blocks of sound health, good nutrition, and clear vision. We […]
2023 Year in Review: Forces for Good [Photo Essay]
Every day, members of the Helen Keller Intl community are choosing to be forces for good. Community health heroes, entrepreneurs, parents, youth, and Helen Keller staff work tirelessly to help improve health, nutrition, and vision for people in their communities, countries, and around the world. We’re highlighting some of the incredible contributions made by members […]
Preventing Vision Loss from Diabetic Retinopathy in Bangladesh
Nasima Khatun’s vision had been deteriorating for years. It had gotten so bad she was unable to recognize the faces of people she knew from a distance. Then one morning, the vision in her right eye suddenly became obscured by what looked like a red cloud. The 41-year-old first went to a local doctor in […]
Clear Vision Brings True Potential into Focus
Living with childhood cataracts meant that 10-year-old Ulrich Amassoga had never experienced clear vision before. He had difficulty in school and dealt with bullying from classmates because of his condition. Two years ago, Helen Keller began providing vision screenings in schools in Cameroon in partnership with USAID’s Child Blindness program, the Ministry of Public Health, […]
Building Brighter Futures by Saving Sight
By the time she was six years old, Treasure Winner Mafau Azemafack’s family had already fled violence three times. Originally from Fontem in Cameroon’s South West region, Treasure Winner, her parents, and three siblings eventually settled on Dschang, in the country’s West region. During this time, Treasure Winner began to experience headaches, but moving so […]
Helping People See True Potential
Impaired vision can cause long-lasting challenges for children and adults throughout their lives. In childhood, poor vision will make it more difficult for a student to fully engage in the classroom and with her peers, putting her education at risk. This can start a downward spiral, especially for a child already experiencing poverty. As she […]
3 Things to be Optimistic about in 2023
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Helen Keller Just like Helen Keller herself, many of the families Helen Keller Intl works with face staggering odds that can seem insurmountable – from food insecurity to climate crises to violent conflicts. Yet, despite these challenges, it is […]
