OUR OBJECTIVE
The objective of the Happy Eyes Project is to provide basic vision screening and corrective lenses to under-served people throughout Vietnam.
THE NEED AND THE OPPORTUNITY
According to the World Economic Forum and Eyelliance:
-2.5 billion people suffer from poor vision
-Over 600 million people live with conditions that render them legally blind without correction
-Correcting near-vision loss with glasses yields an immediate increase in productivity of up to 34%
Compared with many other public health interventions, addressing uncorrected vision is one of the most effective ways to impact people's lives. And the costs can be very modest - just a few dollars per person screened and fitted with lenses.
WHO WE ARE
The Happy Eyes Project, Inc. was founded in 2018 and is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation based in San Jose, California. The organization is staffed by dedicated people who share a passion for the people of Vietnam and a desire to make an impact. The team includes:
Richard Kagan, President (San Jose, USA)
Richard, who co-founded Happy Eyes, is an American entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley with over 30 years experience as a senior executive in high-tech companies. Since 2010 he has spent extensive time in Vietnam, spending time with family and friends and also working with high-growth Vietnamese companies. Richard also serves as a mentor with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO-Vietnam).
Phuong Kagan, Secretary and Treasurer (San Jose, USA)
Phuong, an artist and designer who emigrated to the US from Vietnam in 2011, is the primary liaison between the US and Vietnamese teams.
Jamie Cortez, Legal and Administrative Manager - US (San Diego, USA)
Jamie manages activities related to US financial and legal compliance. She has been working with international non-profits for several years and served as Executive Director and Board Member for Volunteers for Humanity.
Erik Jonsson, Director of Operations - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Erik, a Swedish entrepreneur working and living in Vietnam, co-founded Happy Eyes and oversees event operations. He has started several business ventures in Vietnam, serving as CEO, Country Manager and Managing Director, and is currently Strategic Initiatives Director at Techcombank. Erik has been active in giving back to his adopted home, serving since 2012 on the Board of the Vietnam branch of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO-Vietnam).
Kha Pham, Director of Partner and Donor Relations - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Kha manages relationships with partner organizations and donors in Vietnam. He moved to the US and completed his degree in business administration in the US at California State University-Fullerton before returning to Vietnam, where he established import/export and real estate businesses.
Mimi Nguyen, Director of Fundraising - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Mimi is responsible for fundraising activities in Vietnam. She earned a degree in Management Science at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England and a Bachelor's in Business Administration from California State University-Fullerton. Mimi has managed businesses in both the US and Vietnam and is active with other non-profit organizations including One More Use that recycles school uniforms to reduce carbon footprint. She resides with her husband and their two young children Hồ Chí Minh City.
Hanh Tran, Director of Volunteers - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
For years, Hanh has been leading her own grass-roots efforts on behalf of poor children and is in many ways the reason why Happy Eyes was born. One of Hanh's ongoing projects has been working with the orphans at Tu An pagoda, the site of Happy Eyes' first screening event. Her example of love and selflessness in support of those in need informs everything we do at Happy Eyes.
All Happy Eyes executives and directors provide their time on a volunteer basis in order to keep administrative costs to a minimum and ensure that donations are used to serve our beneficiaries.
HOW IT STARTED
While on a charity outing together in February, 2018 to an orphanage outside of Sai Gon, Richard, Phuong and Erik noticed that very few of the roughly 100 children or adult staff were wearing glasses. They discovered that there was no established program in the area providing regular vision testing and correction for the poor, and started the Happy Eyes Project to address the need. With a group of volunteers, funds donated by friends and family, and generous support from a local eyeglass distributor and their optometrists and staff they screened 68 people in a day, resulting in 31 prescriptions and 2 medical referrals. Two weeks after the screening the glasses were delivered to the orphans and their care givers. The highlights are captured here in a short video.
WHAT WE'RE DOING
The first outing was just a small, modest step but it solidified our resolve to go further. It also inspired us to develop new methods so we can serve more people, at lower cost. We are working with medical professionals and technologists to address two key challenges:
-The conventional approach to vision screening, especially in poor and remote communities, requires transporting medical professionals, support staff and large, sensitive equipment to screening events, which is logistically challenging and limits the ability to reach many communities.
-Another challenge is that people typically don't receive their glasses on the day of screening: Instead, the prescriptions have to be taken to a lab where the lenses and frames are manufactured and assembled, and then the completed glasses have to be delivered to their recipients. This adds delays, costs, and many chances for errors.
Alongside conventional approaches, we are testing new, portable testing equipment and methods that can increase the throughput of our screening - without compromising quality - so we can generate prescriptions faster and with less burden on medical staff. We are also testing glasses that use lenses and frames assembled at the screening site so we can provide glasses immediately to a portion of the people screened. The goal is to bring clear vision to as many people as possible, and there are other benefits as well. Providing vision care can create opportunities for local people to earn income and provide long term benefits for their families as well as their communities.
We are organizing and implementing vision screenings across Vietnam. Our team in the US focuses on fundraising and on qualifying and sourcing advanced screening and lens provisioning technologies that increase the number of people that can be tested and fitted in the shortest time. Our team in Vietnam identifies populations we can serve, works with local authorities to arrange screenings and organizes medical staff and volunteers. We coordinate and cooperate with other public and private organizations who support our mission and we are eager to test and validate new technologies and delivery approaches on the ground. We welcome all who can help.
The objective of the Happy Eyes Project is to provide basic vision screening and corrective lenses to under-served people throughout Vietnam.
THE NEED AND THE OPPORTUNITY
According to the World Economic Forum and Eyelliance:
-2.5 billion people suffer from poor vision
-Over 600 million people live with conditions that render them legally blind without correction
-Correcting near-vision loss with glasses yields an immediate increase in productivity of up to 34%
Compared with many other public health interventions, addressing uncorrected vision is one of the most effective ways to impact people's lives. And the costs can be very modest - just a few dollars per person screened and fitted with lenses.
WHO WE ARE
The Happy Eyes Project, Inc. was founded in 2018 and is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation based in San Jose, California. The organization is staffed by dedicated people who share a passion for the people of Vietnam and a desire to make an impact. The team includes:
Richard Kagan, President (San Jose, USA)
Richard, who co-founded Happy Eyes, is an American entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley with over 30 years experience as a senior executive in high-tech companies. Since 2010 he has spent extensive time in Vietnam, spending time with family and friends and also working with high-growth Vietnamese companies. Richard also serves as a mentor with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO-Vietnam).
Phuong Kagan, Secretary and Treasurer (San Jose, USA)
Phuong, an artist and designer who emigrated to the US from Vietnam in 2011, is the primary liaison between the US and Vietnamese teams.
Jamie Cortez, Legal and Administrative Manager - US (San Diego, USA)
Jamie manages activities related to US financial and legal compliance. She has been working with international non-profits for several years and served as Executive Director and Board Member for Volunteers for Humanity.
Erik Jonsson, Director of Operations - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Erik, a Swedish entrepreneur working and living in Vietnam, co-founded Happy Eyes and oversees event operations. He has started several business ventures in Vietnam, serving as CEO, Country Manager and Managing Director, and is currently Strategic Initiatives Director at Techcombank. Erik has been active in giving back to his adopted home, serving since 2012 on the Board of the Vietnam branch of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO-Vietnam).
Kha Pham, Director of Partner and Donor Relations - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Kha manages relationships with partner organizations and donors in Vietnam. He moved to the US and completed his degree in business administration in the US at California State University-Fullerton before returning to Vietnam, where he established import/export and real estate businesses.
Mimi Nguyen, Director of Fundraising - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Mimi is responsible for fundraising activities in Vietnam. She earned a degree in Management Science at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England and a Bachelor's in Business Administration from California State University-Fullerton. Mimi has managed businesses in both the US and Vietnam and is active with other non-profit organizations including One More Use that recycles school uniforms to reduce carbon footprint. She resides with her husband and their two young children Hồ Chí Minh City.
Hanh Tran, Director of Volunteers - VN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
For years, Hanh has been leading her own grass-roots efforts on behalf of poor children and is in many ways the reason why Happy Eyes was born. One of Hanh's ongoing projects has been working with the orphans at Tu An pagoda, the site of Happy Eyes' first screening event. Her example of love and selflessness in support of those in need informs everything we do at Happy Eyes.
All Happy Eyes executives and directors provide their time on a volunteer basis in order to keep administrative costs to a minimum and ensure that donations are used to serve our beneficiaries.
HOW IT STARTED
While on a charity outing together in February, 2018 to an orphanage outside of Sai Gon, Richard, Phuong and Erik noticed that very few of the roughly 100 children or adult staff were wearing glasses. They discovered that there was no established program in the area providing regular vision testing and correction for the poor, and started the Happy Eyes Project to address the need. With a group of volunteers, funds donated by friends and family, and generous support from a local eyeglass distributor and their optometrists and staff they screened 68 people in a day, resulting in 31 prescriptions and 2 medical referrals. Two weeks after the screening the glasses were delivered to the orphans and their care givers. The highlights are captured here in a short video.
WHAT WE'RE DOING
The first outing was just a small, modest step but it solidified our resolve to go further. It also inspired us to develop new methods so we can serve more people, at lower cost. We are working with medical professionals and technologists to address two key challenges:
-The conventional approach to vision screening, especially in poor and remote communities, requires transporting medical professionals, support staff and large, sensitive equipment to screening events, which is logistically challenging and limits the ability to reach many communities.
-Another challenge is that people typically don't receive their glasses on the day of screening: Instead, the prescriptions have to be taken to a lab where the lenses and frames are manufactured and assembled, and then the completed glasses have to be delivered to their recipients. This adds delays, costs, and many chances for errors.
Alongside conventional approaches, we are testing new, portable testing equipment and methods that can increase the throughput of our screening - without compromising quality - so we can generate prescriptions faster and with less burden on medical staff. We are also testing glasses that use lenses and frames assembled at the screening site so we can provide glasses immediately to a portion of the people screened. The goal is to bring clear vision to as many people as possible, and there are other benefits as well. Providing vision care can create opportunities for local people to earn income and provide long term benefits for their families as well as their communities.
We are organizing and implementing vision screenings across Vietnam. Our team in the US focuses on fundraising and on qualifying and sourcing advanced screening and lens provisioning technologies that increase the number of people that can be tested and fitted in the shortest time. Our team in Vietnam identifies populations we can serve, works with local authorities to arrange screenings and organizes medical staff and volunteers. We coordinate and cooperate with other public and private organizations who support our mission and we are eager to test and validate new technologies and delivery approaches on the ground. We welcome all who can help.