Training Fellows To Eliminate Preventable Blindness
Since 2003, Unite For Sight has trained 6,600 fellows to eliminate preventable blindness in their local community and abroad. These fellows annually contribute 80,000 volunteer hours of service to eliminating preventable blindness and restoring sight. The work of fellows is vitally important, and the result of their work is profound.
Our priority is to ensure that Unite For Sight volunteers make a high impact difference while participating abroad or in their local community. Our research, experience, and evaluation has enabled us to develop a highly successful pre-service training and orientation process that ensures that volunteers are fully prepared to contribute to the success of the Unite For Sight programs.
North America University Community Fellows Program
We train fellows in North America to help eliminate avoidable blindness by educating members of their community on the importance of receiving regular eye exams by an eye doctor. Community Fellows work to connect the community members with resources so that they can receive a complete eye exam through professional organizations such as American Academy of Ophthalmology (EyeCare America) and American Optometric Association (VisionUSA).
- Community Impact Training includes Unite For Sight's Volunteer Ethics and Professionalism Online Course, Cultural Competency Online Course, Eye Health Online Course, Global Health Online Course, Global Health Online Course, Evidence-Based Community Eye Health Online Course, and program training such as the Chapter Manual, Chapter Volunteer Quiz, and training video.
Global Impact Fellows
Volunteers from North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia are trained to serve as support staff at eye clinics in developing countries.
- Unite For Sight requires that all non-eye care professional volunteers complete Global Impact Training, which prepares them to fully contribute to providing eye care immediately upon arrival at the partner eye clinic abroad.
- Global Impact Training: Volunteers are trained in global problem solving by Unite For Sight's pioneering training program, which includes Unite For Sight's Global Health Online Course, Cultural Competency Online Course, Volunteer Ethics and Professionalism Online Course, and Community Eye Health Online Course.
- Entrepreneurial Volunteering: We encourage Unite For Sight Global Impact Fellows to be proactive and entrepreneurial, which enables them to make real, lasting change. All volunteers are required to complete the Unite For Sight Entrepreneurial Volunteering Training Online Course, which includes videos of entrepreneurial alumni volunteers discussing their experiences, research, and projects abroad. While all volunteers do not develop and implement their own entrepreneurial ideas while working with Unite for Sight, we encourage Global Impact Fellows to develop their own individual projects, research studies, and ideas to contribute to the work of the eye clinics on an even greater level. Global Impact Fellows pursuing research studies are required to complete the International Research Online Course, which prepares them for the critical, ethical, and methodological issues involved with research in the developing world.
- Program-Specific Videos: Global Impact Fellows complete a Program-Specific Training Course in which they watch short online videos and read articles about the program site where they will be volunteering. The videos include videotaped discussions with past participants talking about their experience and day-to-day activities abroad, as well as their personalized advice to future volunteers.
- Eye Training: Standard volunteers (those who are not eye care professionals) complete a series of steps to learn standardized knowledge about eye disease, eye anatomy, and eye health. Volunteers begin by completing an Online Eye Health Course. The volunteers also must be trained by an eye doctor in their local community to screen for cataracts, recognize various eye diseases, and learn about eye anatomy and eye health. The training session must include 2-3 days working with an optometrist or ophthalmologist, and volunteers are given a list of skills that they should learn during the training. Volunteers coordinate their training with a local eye doctor, which can be done at either a private eye doctor's office, or at a university department of ophthalmology or optometry.
Community Volunteers
Community volunteers in Ghana and India are trained to assist Unite For Sight outreach teams with providing ongoing eye care in their local villages and refugee camps.
- The ophthalmic staff at Unite For Sight’s partner eye clinics train community volunteers in their villages.