Application For Global Impact Corps

Application Process and Important Instructions

Be sure to first read complete details about the Unite For Sight programs can be read at Program Requirements & Details and Dates & Locations. If you have further questions, please contact volunteers@uniteforsight.org

This application allows you to share your interests and motivation with Unite For Sight, and you will have an opportunity to watch several videos and films so that you can learn more about Unite For Sight's programs.

Unite For Sight accepts applications on a rolling application deadline. The first qualified applicants are accepted, so we advise that you apply as soon as you decide that you would like to participate. A decision on your application will be made within 3 days of receipt of your application and recommendations. Successful applicants to Unite For Sight submit thoughtful short essays that demonstrate dedication and commitment to the volunteer opportunity. Good letters of recommendation are also necessary for acceptance. Accepted Global Impact Fellows demonstrate intellectual curiosity, passion about global health, cultural competency, integrity, humility, respect for supervisors, cooperative disposition, dedication, and commitment.

  1. Submit the online application
  2. Submit the $55 application fee (the fee and additional donations fund sight-restoring eye care in developing countries)
  3. Two professional or academic recommendations must be sent directly from recommenders using our online form

Unite For Sight does not share nor sell personal information.

Application

Be sure to save your essay responses in a document on your computer to avoid losing your work.

Section I:
 
Section II: Short Answers

(please limit answers to 3 sentences)

1. Have you ever been to a developing country before? Please list all.

2. What was the goal of your time there? (i.e. travel, development work, etc.)

3. If you volunteered or were employed abroad, please provide a complete list of the organizations or employers with which you worked.

Section III: Short Essays

(please be thorough, but succinct. Recommended range of 2-4 paragraphs for each question)

1. Why would you like to be a Unite For Sight Global Impact Fellow?

2. Please watch the Unite For Sight films listed and discuss how each film has influenced your interest in becoming a Global Impact Fellow.

a) Unite For Sight Program Films


b) Unite For Sight Partner Eye Clinics Discuss Unite For Sight Programs and Volunteers
c) Unite For Sight Global Impact Fellows Discuss Their Experiences and The Role and Impact of Volunteers

3. Please watch the video by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, who is known as the world's leading expert on extreme poverty, and Special Advisor to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon. Please also read the short article on "Why Eye Care is Important."  Discuss how the film and article influence your interest in becoming involved with improving international health by volunteering abroad.

4. Unite For Sight is the world's leader in socially responsible, effective volunteering abroad. Additionally, Unite For Sight's innovative volunteering model motivates and encourages volunteers to be proactive and entrepreneurial, which enables them to make real, lasting change. The diverse talents, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit of Global Impact Fellows help to develop and hone new approaches to the urgent preventable and curable eye problems that afflict more than 36 million people worldwide. While all Global Impact Fellows do not develop and implement their own entrepreneurial ideas while volunteering with Unite For Sight, every participant is engaged in Unite For Sight's commitment to create real change and to provide high quality eye care for all.

Please read 1) Unite For Sight's Philosophy of International Eye Care, 2) Unite For Sight's Volunteering Ethics and Volunteer Best Practices and view a video about 3) Michael Nedelman's Entrepreneurial Volunteering Project (Run Time: 2 Minutes).

a) Required For All Applicants: How have your past experiences in health, teaching, leadership, or travel impacted your interest in Unite For Sight's Global Impact Corps? What does being involved in ethical, high quality and high impact volunteering mean to you? How do you anticipate that volunteering with Unite For Sight will impact your interests and engagement in global health?

b) Special Additional Question For Ophthalmologists Only: If you are an ophthalmologist applying to participate in Ghana, please discuss your experience and capabilities with Small Incision Cataract Surgery (SICS).

Section IV
Instructions for Letter of Recommendation

When you submit your application, your recommenders will receive an automatic e-mail from Unite For Sight requesting them to complete their letter of recommendation through our online form.

Acceptable professional references include college instructors, academic advisers, former or current employers, work supervisors, and volunteer supervisors. Personal references (friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, clergymen, fellow students, and student leaders of a student organization) are not acceptable references, will be disregarded, and will result in automatic rejection of the application. College students should not submit a letter from a high school teacher or from a supervisor during high school.

You must submit a professional university-issued, corporation-issued, or organization-issued email address for your letter of recommendation writer, and the email address must match their professional affiliation. Recommendations submitted from anonymous services (i.e. GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Comcast, AOL, and others) cannot be accepted for the recommenders. Any recommendations submitted from anonymous email services will be scrutinized for authenticity. If authenticity cannot be confirmed, the recommendation will be denied and the application will be rejected.

Special Section For Yale University and University of Pennsylvania Students

Unite For Sight welcomes volunteers from all countries and universities worldwide. This is a special section for Yale University undergraduate students and University of Pennsylvania medical students.

Are you a student at Yale University?
Are you a student at University of Pennsylvania?

Declaration

Application Process

  • By typing my name below, I certify that all information in my application is complete, factually true, honestly presented, and my own work. I understand and agree that an offer of admission may be rescinded at any time should Unite For Sight determine that I misrepresented or omitted material information from my application.
  • I hereby waive my right of access to the letters of recommendation.
  • I confirm that my recommenders are professional references, not personal references, as defined in the "Instructions for Letters of Recommendation".
  • I certify that all information submitted by my recommenders is authentic.
  • I understand that I will pay a $55 application fee that will help to fund eye care in developing countries. When I click submit, I will be directed to a payment page where I will submit the application fee.
  • I understand that I will be notified about the decision on my application within 3 days of receipt of my application and letters of recommendation.
  • Upon submission of my application, I will immediately receive an email confirming receipt. The email will also have a copy of my application responses.
  • When I submit my application, my letter of recommendation writers will immediately receive an automatic email from Unite For Sight requesting them to complete their letter of recommendation through our online form.

Volunteer Process

  • I have read the Program Requirements & Details section of this website.
  • I have reviewed and accept all pre-travel and volunteer requirements discussed on the Program Requirements & Details section of this website.
  • I understand that Unite For Sight provides an easy-to-use personal login page so that I can keep track of my pre-departure requirements, and access all relevant program-specific details and materials, program manuals, my personalized fundraising webpage, program phone numbers, important links, as well as the email addresses of fellow volunteers and of alumni volunteers.
  • I know that it is obligatory to purchase security and medical assistance insurance coverage through International SOS.
  • I know that I am responsible for all travel arrangements, visa, and vaccine requirements.
  • I understand that I will be responsible for lodging, airfare, food, and any additional expenses. I have reviewed the estimated living, lodging, and food expenses for the program site(s). I understand that the lodging and food expenses are established by third parties who are not under contract with Unite For Sight, and Unite For Sight cannot control changes.
  • I understand that smoking, alcohol, and drugs are not allowed at the program site.

Volunteer Abroad

So many people tell me to thank you and your family each day for the help you have given by giving sight to the poor. Our desire to serve and poor patients desire to see would not have been possible without the help and support of Unite For Sight.
—Dr. Ajit Sinha, Director, A.B. Eye Institute, Patna, Bihar, India; Unite For Sight Partner