We can hardly believe our eyes – Christmas is almost upon us once again! And we’ll make sure we’re kitted out with the perfect eyewear, however the fancy takes us – ski goggles, reading glasses, varifocals, sunglasses or perhaps even rose-tinted ones. But there are 700 million people who don’t have this choice, according to a WHO study. They can’t afford to buy a pair of glasses at all. This prevents children from studying and leaves adults unable to work or provide for their families.
With his initiative OneDollarGlasses, Martin Aufmuth is helping these people to see a whole new world. He has developed an ingenious system for manufacturing glasses, and a clear-eyed sales strategy to match. His aim is to establish financially independent and locally organised eyewear provision to meet basic needs around the world. One recent success was in Odisha in eastern India, where the initiative trained local people as manufacturers, opticians and optician trainers in just two and a half weeks. Around 30 people now work for OneDollarGlasses there and earn a living from the proceeds.
To support the recruitment and training of new glasses manufacturers and agents, we are delighted to hand over this year’s BESTMINDS Christmas donation to OneDollarGlasses. We share their vision of helping one another and creating jobs.
We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks for the collaborative, rewarding and productive working relationship we have enjoyed with you in 2017. With our motto “More specialised. More competent. Closer to the action.” in mind, we look forward to 2018 and the shared challenges it will bring.
We wish you and your family a merry Christmas and a happy new year full of new perspectives, joy and – of course – clear vision.
