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This week, we once again received a CSR award in India and our pharmacy program in Nigeria took another step forward.

And we are in the midst of this year's VisionSpring ke Sitare — Stars of VisionSpring — make sure to read the Team & Culture section to find out who our latest finalist is!

Got something to celebrate? Let Us Know!

Goal 1: Growth & Impact

Winners of Maharashtra CSR Award 2023

Last week, VisionSpring and Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd. were announced as this year's winners of the Maharashtra CSR Award.

This award recognizes the impact of our collaborative project with Bajaj that is on track to screen the vision of 200k schoolchildren across Pune. This is the second time that India CSR has acknowledged our work in 2023, following the "Large Impact" award we received in August.

A big thank you to Sanjay Daswani (Deputy Director, Resource Mobilisation) and Vijay Uttarwar (Assistant Lead, Program Experience & Quality) for attending the Maharashtra CSR Summit on VisionSpring's behalf.

Pharmacy Program Training in Nigeria

Our pharmacy program continues to grow in Nigeria!

Last week, Abiola Joseph (Global Pharmacy Manager), Olumide Kareem (Pharmacy Territory Project Lead), and Tochukwu Onwuzulike (Business Development Specialist) conducted a training workshop in Kano State.

They trained more than 50 pharmacists to conduct basic sight tests and dispense reading glasses to their customers.

Goal 2: Catalyze & Influence

First Phase of THRIFT Completed

We are happy to announce that we have completed the first phase of THRIFT (Transforming Households with Refraction and Innovative Financial Technology).

Launched in September, this randomized controlled trial seeks to determine if free vision correction can encourage senior citizens and widows to use mobile banking apps. The team led by Dr. Sonia Pant (Senior Lead, Global MERL) approached more than 6,000 participants across Bangladesh's Kurigram District, selecting 570 to conduct our baseline data collection.

We are grateful to our facilitating partners: Queen’s University Belfast, James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC, Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation, MOMODa Foundation, Clearly Initiatives, and Good Business Lab Foundation.

Jenna Begum (left) and Protiva Chokroborti (right)

We also want to acknowledge two BRAC team members for their exceptional work: Jenna Begum (Community Health Worker) and Protiva Chokroborti (Enumerator). Both Jenna and Protiva made outstanding contributions when interacting with participants and ensuring the quality of all our data. Thank you!

Team & Culture

Wishing a Merry Christmas to all VisionSpring team members and partners!

Our offices will close for the holiday season on the following dates:

• African teams: December 20th through January 2nd
• U.S. team: December 22nd, December 25th, and January 1st
• India team: December 25th and January 1st
• Vietnam team: December 25th and January 1st
• Bangladesh team: December 25th

VisionSpring ke Sitare

We're gearing up for the second season of VisionSpring ke Sitare (Stars of VisionSpring).

The team representing South India recently celebrated their regional round of the competition, putting on an impressive display of talent and creativity.

And congratulations to Harshitha for becoming South India's finalist!

She will be joining other regional finalists at the VisionSpring ke Sitare's grand finale in early 2024. Good luck to you all!

Solutions Inside Out - Africa

Contributors

Thank you for contributing to this week's content: Gagan, Tochukwu, Sonia, and Aalisha.

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