Ben Farmer Africa Correspondent

Rev Robert Mayambala Tendo’s duty in his church in Uganda is to ensure his flock can see the light of God.

But for the last couple of years, he has also checked if they can clearly see their Bibles, their phones and their work.

Armed with eye charts and cut-price spectacles, the vicar is at the sharp end of a massive scheme to improve the eyesight of millions of people.

The gift of affordable glasses for near vision can transform the social lives or livelihoods of those with failing eyesight, he told the Telegraph.

“It’s beyond just seeing, it’s the impact it has on their lives. For example a teacher that cannot see very well to prepare their lessons, or read their notes – it’s a big issue. Some lose their jobs.

“Farmers cannot see seedlings,” he said.

“You experience someone who could never before be able to thread a needle. We find people who are working in businesses and they have failed because of sight.

“You find parents in their homes who would love to help students with their homework, but they cannot help, but when they have these glasses, they are able to help their children.”

Rev Tendo, along with fellow priests in 10 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Uganda, have been recruited as part of a charity’s mission to use the Church as a distribution network for spectacles.

The ubiquity of churches and their trusted place in local communities gives them a far wider reach than medical clinics, which can be rare on the ground, says Gabriel Ogunyemi, Africa director for VisionSpring, the charity behind the scheme.

“Churches are not just venues, they are a trust network, they are a high-trust environment.

“You have all sorts of walks of life that come to churches and our target population, people that are 35 years and above, can easily be found in that population.

“Churches are in places where there are no clinics. There is no nook or cranny that you will go to where you will not find a church.”

VisionSpring has been distributing glasses for more than 20 years, with its biggest market in Bangladesh.

In that time, 24 million people have been screened for poor eyesight and 16 million pairs of glasses have been given out.

The scheme to use churches in Africa as a distribution network began in 2023.

As well as the Church of Uganda, VisionSpring is working with the Council of Churches in Zambia, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Malawi Council of Churches, and the Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Priests are given basic training and equipment and paid a small fee for their time.

They hold screenings for their congregations before or after services, or arrange dedicated camps that can attract hundreds of people.

Rev Tendo said: “We feel so blessed when we see the effect.

“After screening, many people can suddenly read their Bibles. And they can go out and do business in their communities and it increases their productivity as well.”

Many of those receiving glasses have struggled with poor eyesight for decades, but have been unable to afford a pair before.

A pair of glasses might typically cost around £25 on the open market in Uganda.

Subsidised pairs sold by the charity cost around £2.

The World Health Organization estimates that at least 2.2bn people globally have impaired eyesight and at least a billion of those are untreated.

It is estimated that two-thirds of people in low-income countries who need eyeglasses cannot get them.

Eyesight might now be taken for granted in richer countries, but when the UK’s National Health Service began in 1948, sudden access to affordable spectacles proved hugely popular.

Public demand for glasses far exceeded government expectations, and in the first year alone cost nearly five times more than predicted. Patients waited up to 18-months for a pair.

Without spectacles, as people lose their eyesight, they find it difficult to work and can often lose their jobs.

As financial transactions and government services have moved online, people who cannot see a phone screen have been left behind.

When people have access to affordable glasses, productivity rises, more children pass exams and income increases, research for the charity has found.

Ephrance Nantaba, a 45-year-old mother of two, had struggled with her work as a teacher because of her eyesight and even had problems cooking for her family. Simple tasks like sifting stones out of rice were difficult.

She told the Telegraph: “Right now I am able to read and write on the chalkboard and my family are so appreciative about the food I am preparing.”

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