CHICAGO—Over 5,000 people, including children, in Nigeria will receive access to vision resources free of charge through a partnership of telehealth technology company, Visibly, non-profit organization RestoringVision and NewGlobe, a developer of learning systems that works with governments to create education ecosystems. Together, these three organizations are providing free vision tests and prescription eyewear to communities in the Lagos, Edo and Osun states of Nigeria, Africa, where access to vision resources is scarce and expensive.

This vision restoring initiative is driven on existing education systems in Nigeria comprising a private school network located in Lagos and Osun states, as well as public, free education projects in Lagos and Edo State respectively, according to an announcement from the three organizations.

RestoringVision has dedicated nearly two decades of work to creating equitable access to eyeglasses around the world. Their work began with providing basic vision screenings and reading glasses. More recently the nonprofit expanded to serving children and adults with prescription glasses thanks to the support of National Vision's Made Locally, Given Globally program. By partnering with Visibly, beneficiaries will be able to receive prescription eyewear after completing Visibly's online vision test.

"Our philosophy at RestoringVision is that by collaborating with partners and curating projects such as this, we can accelerate results," said Pelin Munis, executive director of RestoringVision. "What better results than ensuring that 5,000 school children can now see clearly because of the collaboration between RestoringVision, Visibly, and NewGlobe. We are honored to be a part of this pilot program and believe the impact is only just beginning."

Visibly CEO Brent Rasmussen, said, "Since day one, Visibly's mission has been to provide vision resources to anyone, anywhere and at any time. Seeing clearly should be a right; we believe that vision prescriptions should be accessible and affordable to everyone, and we're eager to provide these services to those in need around the globe."

Specializing in creating powerful technology-enabled education systems, NewGlobe will be leading the facilitation of the event and the distribution of the eyewear in Nigeria. This initiative is geared toward helping previously undiagnosed as well as already diagnosed patients in NewGlobe's Nigerian ecosystem of more than 30,000 teachers, more than one million pupils and others in the communities where  schools and education partnerships operate.

Visibly, RestoringVision, and NewGlobe said they plan to continue their collaboration by extending this project and providing vision resources to other communities in need.