--- description: To coincide with World Sight Day on Oct 9, Standard Chartered will launch "Seeing is Believing" — a $20m initiative, tackling avoidable blindness and ensuring sustainable eyecare to some of the title: The Gift of Sight image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) # The Gift of Sight by [TIME](/author/time/) Oct 7, 2008 4:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Oct 7, 2008 4:00 AM CUT To coincide with World Sight Day on Oct 9, Standard Chartered will launch “Seeing is Believing” — a $20m initiative, tackling avoidable blindness and ensuring sustainable eyecare to some of the world’s poorest communities over the next 5 years. ### Lifting the Lid  Beauty Chima, a teacher in Zambia, is pictured screening one of her pupils for eye problems. She has been trained through the country's Ronald Ross Eye Care Programme. Teachers at each school in the district treat students once a semester and refer anyone with problems to the eye unit at the Ronald Ross hospital. Kerstin Hacker / Sightsavers International ### Happy Ever After  Christiana (center) lives in Nigeria and was born with cataracts in both eyes, which left her almost completely blind. Two years ago, thanks to "Seeing is Believing", she had sight-restoring cataract surgery at a clinic, managed by Sightsavers International. She is now looking forward to her wedding day.Readers can donate online. All donations will be matched by Standard Chartered Bank. Jenny Matthews / Sightsavers ### Gentle Touch  A child reading Braille in Kenya. Sightsavers International works with partners in over 30 of the world's poorest countries to prevent and cure blindness and ensure that people who are blind enjoy equal rights and opportunities, including helping children to go to school. Georgina Cranston / Sightsavers International ### Preventative Measures  In Cameroon, a child is being measured for Mectizan. This is a drug that prevents the parasites which cause river blindness (Onchocerciasis) from breeding. Dosage depends on the size of the individual. Suzanne Porter / Sightsavers International ### Waiting Patiently  At the Ronald Ross Eye Care project in Zambia's Copperbelt region, patients wait to have their bandages removed after surgery. Kerstin Hacker / Sightsavers International ### Cutting Edge  Manoj, a 10-year-old from Tamil Nadu, India, has his vision checked before a cataract operation. Claudia Janke / Sightsavers International ### Wait and See  Born with cataracts in both his eyes, Manoj had been completely blind from the age of 7\. Here we see him after the operation. Claudia Janke / Sightsavers International ### Beautiful Sight  His sight successfully restored, Manoj is held by his father, Venkatesh, at a Sightsavers-supported project in Tamil Nadu. Claudia Janke / Sightsavers International ### Seeing the Light  Three-and-a-half-year-old Farouk undergoes tests to assess whether he is fit to have cataract surgery the following day at the Sobi Specialist Hospital in Illorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Farouk was born with cataracts in both his eyes and became completely blind by the time he was two years old. His mother Comfort tells us, "I didn't know it was cataract. Farouk used to blink his eyes and strain to see so I took him to the local health centre about four months ago." Three-and-a-half-year-old Farouk undergoes tests to assess whether he is fit to have cataract surgery the following day at the Sobi Specialist Hospital in Illorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Farouk was born with cataracts in both his eyes and became completel ### Last Resort  Left: A boy's eye is examined after an accident that led to an eye trauma injury. Right: In circumstances where an eye is irreparably damaged and has to be removed, an artificial eye is inserted. 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