Global Ambassador, Jess Gallagher, has recently returned from Vietnam where she witnessed first-hand the projects that are making a difference to hundreds of thousands of blind and vision impaired people.
In her official role as Vision 2020 Australia Global Ambassador for Australia’s efforts to overcome avoidable blindness and vision impairment, Jess joined Vision 2020 CEO Jennifer Gersbeck in a week-long trip to see how Australia’s Global Consortium projects were changing lives.
As part of the trip, Jess visited a range of programs on the ground including visits to observe screening activity in the Ba Ria-Vung Tau (BRTV) province and cataract surgery at the Hue Provincial Eye Hospital. Jess also met blind and vision impaired children at Nguyen Dinh Chieu School and visited low vision centres and vision centres across the country.
Vision 2020 Australia would like to thank The Fred Hollows Foundation, Brien Holden Vision Institute and CBM Australia for facilitating the activities and showcasing these wonderful programs.
Jess and Jennifer also took part in the Brien Holden Vision Institute World Sight Day activities in BRVT province which began with some beautiful singing performances by the local school for blind and vision impaired children. They sang ‘even though I cannot see, I feel the world around me through my heart and even though I am blind, I deserve to have a beautiful life’.
They also visited programs managed by The Fred Hollows Foundation in Hue and CBM Australia in Hanoi funded by AusAID, through the Avoidable Blindness Initiative and the Global Consortium.
Jess was overwhelmed with the work that was taking place on the ground and enjoyed meeting the program organisers, staff, and patients who benefited from these facilities.