Improving The lives
Of People With
Visual Impairments
ADDIS Foundation for Community Health is for educating blind children and adults and preventing preventable blindness in Ethiopia. We use a comprehensive approach that includes medical management, emphasizes healthcare workforce capacity building, community health and education, and focusing on resourcing those who are affected by visual impairments.
Medical Management
Time equals vision!
ADDIS Foundation for Community Health visions every patient who needs eye care receive immediate medical treatment with no waiting.
Healthcare Workforce Capacity Building
Prevention is better than cure!
Training healthcare professionals ensures sustainable solution to vision impairments. Healthcare professionals, including nurses have opportunity advocating for resources to get to individuals and communities in need. Promotion of good personal hygiene, proper hand washing practice, environmental sanitation, and balanced nutrition, prevents preventable vision loss.
Empowering Blind Children And Adults
Education is a powerful tool to empower our blind children and adults! Providing them instructional tools (example: white canes and braille materials) and basic necessities such as food and clothing, helps them attain skills and training they need to be productive members of society.
Overview
Problems: Eye Vision Impairments:
Visual impairments are believed to be a major public health concern in Ethiopia
There are over 1.2 million blind individuals. Over 600,000 people lost their vision from preventable causes
2.9 million individuals are at risk of losing their vision
Access to formal education is a human right, yet blind individuals in Ethiopia have limited access to education and resources that would help them to live a happy and independent life
According to Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia (since 2018) and authorities of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind (ENAB), it is estimated that the total number of blind individuals who have access to education does not exceed 5%.
Solutions: ADDIS Foundation for Community Health determines to fill a gap to reduce the burden of visual impairments on individuals and society.
The three primary programs @ADDIS Foundation for Community Health are:
Medical treatments
Healthcare workforce capacity building
3. Educating blind children and adults
Examples of specific measures include:
Distributing Vitamins-A to individuals of high risk of vision impairments. Supporting local healthcare agencies such as the Queen Zewditu Memorial Hospital
Promoting eye health-sanitation, personal hygiene, nutrition including the widespread use of moringa (shiferaw/ሺፈራው). This plant is a rich sources of nutrition including Vitamin-A. Time equals vision. Seeking medical advice- with no waiting saves vision.
Distributing most current evidence based instructional materials and public health program. Key U.S based content donor organizations: Nurse International (NI) and NextGen (NGUO)
Distributing assistive devices and instructional aids such as braille materials , food, clothing and other basic necessities to blind individuals. Empowering the Ethiopian National Association of The Blind (ENAB)
Progress: Since we begin our program in 2018, we are able to establish a genuine relationships with a number of organizations and individuals and bring valuable services to our program participants in Ethiopia . We received a few certificates of recognition that we are humbled and take pride of.
Below are the Achievement statements at January’s 2020 gift exchange event
The following are direct quotes taken at the gift (white canes) exchange ceremony at Sidist KIllo, Ethiopian National Association for the Blind
You gave me my eyes back, “ኣይናችንን መለሽልን"Aynachined melshelin, you gave me my one eye back/ ኣንድ ኣይናን መልሽልኝ/ and aynenen meleshiln/, the canes must be God sent/ ዪህ ዱላ ከግዚኣብሃር የመጣ ነው/ yhi dula keigziabher ye meta new/, ኣመሰግናለሁ/ amesginalehu, thank you for the canes, we also have more needs/dulaw tirunew, bizuneger yasfeligenal.
Queen Zewditu Memorial Hospital received the supplies with pleasure!
A professor of Baro College who received college course contents stated: we never received a gift, and you are the first one, thank you,ማንም ስጦታ ሰጥቶን ኣያውቅም፥ ኣንቺ የመጀመሪዋ ነሽ.
Higher education for Quality and Relevance (HERQA) presented us with a certificate of appreciation for our contribution to improving the quality of nursing education that ADDIS hopes to improve patient care ultimately, prevent complications, including preventable blindness.
And countless admiration from members of communities (educators, friends, and families)! ADDIS is a new foundation and still in the process of establishing. Yet its work has positively impacted many!
Team ADDIS (the Board of Directors, members of the Development Committee, and volunteers) believes in community engagements. Help us by spreading the word out, through friends, social media/media…
ADDIS Foundation for Community Health opens opportunities
Connecting donors to recipients; bridging people in need of help to people who want to share
Community engagement
Volunteer opportunities locally and internationally