News and stories

Fighting Trachoma in Ethiopia - 5 Questions with an Orbis-Trained Healthcare Worker

Bekelech is a Health Extension Worker in southern Ethiopia. In December, she was part of the Orbis team that treated 7.5 million people to prevent the spread of trachoma. Read on to learn about Bekelech's sight-saving work... and her heartfelt message to Orbis supporters.

Volunteers in Focus

International Nurse's Day 2022

On May 12, people around the world celebrate the invaluable work that nurses achieve while helping their patients. This year, we're highlighting some of the nurses from our Orbis community. Read on to learn more about the crucial role nurses perform, and to register for a special webinar.

Catch up with Lin, a former patient

Meet Lin — a former Flying Eye Hospital patient whose bilateral strabismus (squint) was treated 13 years ago by our team of Volunteer Faculty in Myanmar. In 2019 during our Mandalay Flying Eye Hospital training project, we had the pleasure of catching up with a 15-year-old Lin again, to hear how surgery changed her life.

Unaddressed Vision Problems Linked to Many Bus Crashes in Bangladesh, Study Finds

The new research from eye care nonprofit Orbis International is among the first to look at vision and road safety among public transportation workers in low- and middle-income countries.

International Women's Day

Each year on March 8, people around the world celebrate International Women’s Day - an opportunity to reflect on progress towards gender equality and what we can do to create a more fair and equitable world. At Orbis, we know that blindness is a gender issue and are committed to alleviating unequal access to eye care.

Heroes of Orbis: Xiao Ying

Xiao Ying has been a nurse since 1999. After 5 years at the Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital in China, Xiao was selected to attend an Orbis training program. She enjoyed her experience so much that she returned the next year to volunteer for Orbis—ultimately inspiring her to join the Flying Eye Hospital team as a staff nurse. The rest is history!

Heroes of Orbis: Jackie Newton

Jackie Newton joined Orbis as a staff nurse on the Flying Eye Hospital more than a decade ago. When she’s not busy saving people’s sight, she spends her time training and mentoring the next generation of nurses. Most recently she’s been part of the Flying Eye Hospital team that’s transitioned their hands-on training to online, due to the pandemic.