Impact Poverty Now Inc. dba Sustainable Sight Intitiative

In poor and developing countries, there is a particularly damaging connection between disease and poverty. Sustainable Sight Initiative’s (SSI) mission is to promote effective intervention against Trachoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world, and lessen its contribution to the cycle of poverty. According to the World Health Organization, in addition to being a substantial humanitarian problem, Trachoma significantly burdens economic viability in poor developing countries. Trachoma is a highly contagious bacterial eye infection. It exists where there is inadequate sanitation and water, basic infrastructure elements which are unaffordable but essential to eliminate Trachoma. Current conditions result in a continual reinfection cycle which overwhelms the sufferer’s immune system and allows the disease to progress to blindness. Therefore, SSI has focused on mitigating Trachoma’s symptoms while interrupting the reinfection cycle and its progression to blindness. The classic photograph of African children with flies in their eyes is emblematic of Trachoma. Their tears are highly contagious and anything that touches them, including the flies which feed off their weeping eyes, will carry the disease to others. This leads to continual reinfection and the continued progression of the disease. Trachoma irritates, roughens, and scars the inside of the eyelids, eventually curling the eyelids against the eye where the lashes abrade the cornea to opacity. Children, who are the reservoir of the disease, infect mothers and caregivers who become unable to work during their most productive years, placing an added burden on families and communities and contributing to the continuing cycle of poverty. Our program has successfully treated over 13,000 people, primarily children, eliminating all Trachoma symptoms and restoring pain-free sight and eye health in those suffering from early to advanced stages of the disease. It has done so with a 100% rate of success. Based on word-of-mouth alone, there is a huge demand for our Trachoma treatment services. Currently, we cannot begin to meet this demand without additional funding. Although privately funded to date, SSI seeks donors to fund the treatment of 150,000 people over the next two years. Expansion plans are in place and everyone is prepared to proceed. Execution requires financial assistance to reach remote regions where the need for Trachoma intervention is greatest. Please look at our website and join us in this most worthwhile venture. www.sustainableSight.org

Empower Africans to break the link between preventable disease and poverty by eliminating the symptoms of trachoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world, effectively mitigating a contributor to the cycle of poverty with humanitarian benefits.