Seeing Again.

How a partnership between African churches is helping communities see again.

 

Rev Samuel Saka carrying out an eye screening at St Andrew’s Church in Nakasongola. (Photo: VisionSpring/Katende Joseph)

Across much of Africa, churches have long been more than places of worship - they are also trusted centres of community life that step in where public services cannot reach. 

Now, a partnership between global social enterprise VisionSpring and church networks in Uganda, Zambia and Malawi is adding an unexpected dimension to that role: training pastors to carry out vision screenings and distribute affordable reading glasses to people in their communities.

For millions of adults in low-income and rural areas, poor vision affects everything from earning a living to reading Scripture. Through VisionSpring's Reading Glasses for Improved Livelihoods programme, churches are helping to address a need that is both practical and frequently overlooked.

Christian Today spoke with Rev Irene Akuku, a health coordinator in the Church of Uganda, and Julius Mujuni, VisionSpring’s Uganda lead, about why churches have become key partners in expanding access to vision care, and what lessons this model could hold for churches around the world. CT.