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: What made you want to get involved in this programme?
Rev Irene: It’s now been one year since we started partnering with VisionSpring in East Busoga Diocese. As part of the programme we were trained in how to screen people’s eyes and provide reading glasses. This is very necessary because many people have eye problems - some that we could not really address before. Because of the economic status of our people here, some cannot even afford a pair of reading glasses, even though they really need one.
Julius: Uganda has a population of just over 50 million people and yet we only have about 200 ophthalmologists and 240 ophthalmic clinical officers. It is therefore a very understaffed country in terms of the eyecare services it can provide to people. There are nearly 5 million Ugandans that need reading glasses and cannot easily access them.
Rev Irene: Our congregations had difficulty even reading their Bibles but after giving them glasses, they were able to do so, which helps nurse their spirit and their relationship with God. But of course there are also physical challenges. Everyday things like reading, writing, cooking, and washing are difficult when you have sight problems. By making glasses accessible, we can address such problems. Already we have screened over 1,000 people and been able to give out reading glasses to almost 700 people at an affordable price.
CT: How do you think this ministry reflects the Church’s calling to demonstrate the Gospel in both word and action?
Rev Irene: The Bible tells us in Matthew Chapter 6 that the eye is the light of the body. That gives us, as a church, a real sense of purpose in this work. It shows people that we care about more than just the spiritual - we care about the whole person, body and soul. It's been a hugely valuable programme, and one we're deeply grateful for.
CT: Why do you think churches are particularly well placed to deliver vision care?
Julius: Trust is actually a major issue because for millions of Ugandans, the only people they’ve seen wearing glasses are people like head teachers or government officials - people who are generally well-off. And yet getting old is not only an experience for the rich; ageing affects everybody.
What VisionSpring is doing is normalising the wearing of glasses in low-income communities by changing the perception that glasses are a privilege for the select few. We believe that the cost of glasses should be affordable for everyone and we do this by selling glasses at just $3 a pair.
But there are other myths we need to address. Some people wonder whether wearing glasses will hurt or even make their eyesight worse. There are some who think that because they do not go to school, they do not need to wear glasses. There's even a myth that women who wear glasses might not be seen as 'wife material'.
The Church is really well positioned to address these concerns because it is a trusted entity within the community. We worked with the Anglican Church of Uganda because, as the second biggest Church in Uganda, it has a footprint across the country and we can use existing church structures to leverage that community trust and address these myths around wearing glasses.
Church leaders can spread the message that glasses are not just a tool to read with but something that helps them with their work, too, so they can be more productive. And the great thing is that you do not need a university degree to screen someone and dispense the right pair of glasses. Anyone with basic knowledge can do it.
Rev Irene: We have trained around 60 people, including clergy and laypeople, to screen and dispense reading glasses. Sometimes when lay volunteers were out in the community, people were initially cautious so they would say, “Call Reverend Irene.” When I reassured them that it was a good thing, they trusted me as the diocesan health coordinator. As Julius said, there is more trust in us as church ministers.
CT: Do you have a particularly memorable story of someone whose life was transformed after receiving a pair of reading glasses? What difference did it make?
Rev Irene: The father of a friend of mine had to take early retirement because of eye problems. He couldn’t even leave the house or cross the road alone. So, I screened him and gave him a pair of reading glasses. Now he is very happy and I became a family friend because of that. He told me that even though he cannot go back to work, he’s able to read some of the Bible now and walk around outside by himself. So his life really improved.
Julius: We actually have many stories of people telling us, for example, that they were no longer able to read their Bible but now they can easily follow the Scripture when the reverend is teaching in church. In Uganda people do a lot of financial transactions on their phone, like payments for utilities or sending money to one another, and one person told us how they were making quite a few errors and now they’re not making these errors anymore. Imagine if you’re supposed to send $20 to somebody but you miss one digit and send money to the wrong phone number. It can become a very serious and costly issue. And we’ve had stories of smallhold farmers screaming with joy that they can now do hand pollination for their vanilla crops. Some agricultural tasks, like hand-pollinating vanilla, require good near vision. Instead of hiring what we call 'young eyes' to sort their cereals for them, they can do the work themselves by wearing glasses and cut the cost.
CT: Local churches around the world often step in to meet practical needs where public services are stretched. Do you see partnerships like this becoming part of a wider response to healthcare challenges across Africa?
Julius: We see this as a long-term partnership. We've seen significant success already with our colleagues in Zambia and Malawi, where we're working with the Council of Churches, and we'd like to expand this into other countries. As I mentioned, the Church has a very clear role to play in ensuring access to these services for people who wouldn’t otherwise have any. So we want to use the Church's structures and leverage its resources, including its people. Many churches, like the Church of Uganda, run hospitals and health facilities. Using this infrastructure to expand access will go a long way toward helping the millions of people who need glasses but don't have them.
Rev Irene: Many people have more than just eye problems. Sometimes when we have announced we are coming to a particular area to do eye screenings, people have turned up with quite different challenges. So I would like to see the programme expand beyond vision problems in the future.
CT: How have pastors responded to this training and what would you say to a pastor who hasn't engaged with the programme yet - why should they get involved?
Julius: Right now we are only working with 10 dioceses - and the Church of Uganda has 39 dioceses. But we are getting constant calls from other dioceses saying they also need this programme and asking us when we will start there too.
The response from pastors involved in the programme so far has been very positive because often they are the first people to receive a pair of glasses, and a good number of them are first-time wearers. So, when they themselves have experienced this immediate effect on their ability to read small text, they’re amazed. The impact is instant.
In terms of encouraging more pastors, I would say something similar to what Rev Irene said earlier about Matthew 6: if your congregation can’t see clearly, how are you going to help them follow what you’re teaching? I strongly believe that the more clearly people can read their Bibles, the more easily pastors will be able to teach. However, it's also important for pastors to demonstrate that it's not only about being able to read God’s Word; it is also an economic intervention because wearing glasses can help them to do more. That is very important.
CT: What can the wider global Church learn from what you're doing?
Julius: What the global Church can learn from us is to think about how it can use the Church’s reputation, trust and structures to intervene in sectors where the government is not able to intervene - be it in health, education, disaster response or other areas. The Church has a role to play across so many sectors so it should leverage its existing structures to create impact not only through biblical teachings and nourishing people spiritually, but in strengthening their communities.
