Having operated in Tunisia since 1970 with a strong focus on social responsibility, Essilor SIVO is determined to improve the lives of the local population by improving their vision.
In Tunisia, populations living in very remote areas often have no access to eye care nor easy transport to the nearest city where eye care services are located. That’s why Essilor SIVO, with the help of its employee volunteers and through Vision For Life Tunisia, regularly provides free screenings to these underserved communities, especially children from disadvantaged households, empowering them to lead better lives.
Led by 20 dedicated Essilor SIVO volunteers, this year’s initiative targets children between 5 and 12 years old who live in underserved communities where access to vision care is limited or non-existent. So far, more than 7,400 children have received free vision screenings, and over 3,000 of them were equipped with new eyeglasses.
At Essilor SIVO, we’re driven by our mission of improving lives by improving sight. By providing free vision care to disadvantaged young students who need them, we help unlock their potential to excel in school, and set them up for future success in life. Some of them may one day become our employees or customers.
“At Essilor SIVO, we’re driven by our mission of improving lives by improving sight. By providing free vision care to disadvantaged young students who need them, we help unlock their potential to excel in school, and set them up for future success in life. Some of them may one day become our employees or customers,” said Khaled Sellami, General Manager, Essilor SIVO.
Many school children often drop out of school due to uncorrected poor vision. Those with poor sight struggle to see what the teacher writes on the board and understand the lessons being taught, which in turn drastically affects their academic performance in school. When disadvantaged students consistently underperform in school, they often face mounting pressure from their families to drop out of school and take on low-paying jobs to supplement the family income.
In October, Essilor SIVO volunteers journeyed to a small rural village located in Ghardimaou where they provided vision screening to 305 children and equipped 187 who needed eyeglasses. During this visit, they encountered a young schoolboy who had lost his eyeglasses and as a result, had to drop out of school for a short period of time despite his good grades. His family simply could not afford to replace his eyeglasses. The young boy is now back in school thanks to this initiative.
It took us several hours of travel to reach this remote village but it was all worth it. A pair of eyeglasses may seem insignificant to the average person, but it represents a ray of hope with the potential to change the lives of children living in underserved communities like Ghardimaou.
“It took us several hours of travel to reach this remote village but it was all worth it. A pair of eyeglasses may seem insignificant to the average person, but it represents a ray of hope with the potential to change the lives of children living in underserved communities like Ghardimaou,” said Najla Ben Chehida who handles Essilor SIVO’s community outreach programs.
Essilor SIVO plans to conduct at least one community outreach activity in Tunisia each week until the end of the school year in May 2020. This will contribute to Essilor’s goal of eliminating poor vision by 2050.