Special-edition, Congolese-inspired TOMS Shoes
We're teaming up with Giving Partner Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), an advocacy and grant-making organization founded by Ben Affleck, on two Congolese-inspired designs with an additional give. Read More >>
TOMS x charity: water - An Eyewer collaboration
TOMS and charity: water, an organization founded in 2006 (like TOMS!) that’s dedicated to to helping bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, join forces for the first-ever TOMS Eyewear collab! Read More >>
Giving TOMS Shoes in the DRC
Founded by Ben Affleck in 2010, ECI is an advocacy and grant-making organization that works with and for the people of DRC, the third most populous country in Africa, and one that struggled under a cycle of violence for nearly 20 years – particularly in the east. Read More >>
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Journeying to Bring Eye Care to Dhankuta, Nepal
Thirty miles may not seem like many, but when it’s a 2,300-foot climb that snakes its way through numerous rivers, breathtaking highlands and rocky roads, that trek can be a perilous one. The team from TOMS Sight Giving Partner Seva Foundation makes trips like these regularly through Nepal to help bring professional eye care to villages that may otherwise be overlooked.
Last winter, Seva Foundation journeyed to Dhankuta, a tiny town in the hills of the eastern region of Nepal. Prior to the team’s arrival, Seva’s Nepali staff spread the word through community leaders, local volunteers, teachers and even a local radio broadcast about the eye camp that would be set up to provide services. When the eye care team arrived, people were already waiting in line, eager to receive care.
The path to get to that camp is not an easy one, not for the eye care staff nor for those who live outside of that village, who traveled their necessary distances to receive eye care. To get there, or to other mobile eye camps, patients and their families often walk many miles, sometimes for days, crossing treacherous rivers and walking dangerous, unpaved roads. One patient, 70-year-old Gyaljun, had the help of his wife and son, who carried him the entire journey so he could receive cataract surgeries in both his eyes.
After surgery, he shared joyfully, “Now I can see with both eyes!” For the first time in over a year, he was able to see his wife clearly. “I can see her now, and she is beautiful.”
Eye care professionals examined more 500 patients over the three-day course of that mobile eye camp’s establishment. The team provided new prescription glasses and medical treatment, and they performed nearly 100 cataract surgeries. Hundreds of patients left the camp with restored vision, and, for those like Gyaljun, with newfound joy.
Through the collaborative efforts of every individual who supports TOMS Eyewear, we’re able to help our Sight Giving Partners reach communities in some of the most remote corners of the globe with professional eye care treatment. Thank you for contributing to making that happen.
