ninth grade. Bawana, India. dancer. yogi.
Then VisionSpring set up a vision camp at her school. Here is what happened next, in her own words.
Taniya, a wordless film · reweave
Now that I have eyeglasses, so much has improved. I feel confidence in so many ways.
Taniya, ninth grade, Bawana, India
before the camp
Taniya is in ninth grade at her school in Bawana, India, a town about two hours by bus from Delhi. She practices yoga every day. She dances Bollywood. She has competed in yoga competitions where learners hold poses like Tittibhasana, the Firefly, for the judges to score.
A few months before the vision camp, she started noticing that her sight was changing. Not all at once. The kind of change that happens slowly enough that you adapt without realizing you have.
When I looked in the mirror during dance class, it was difficult to see the facial expressions that are so important to the performance. When I looked at the blackboard at school, I could see only blurred letters.Taniya, in her own words
Then the headaches came. Fifteen to thirty minutes at a time. Painful enough that she could not concentrate on anything. She started holding her exam papers very close to her face. She started asking her educator to double check her spelling. Her friends finished their work before her because she was always checking that she had read the question correctly.
the vision camp
VisionSpring brings eye doctors and screening equipment directly into schools. Children move through stations. Their vision is checked. Their prescription is determined. They choose frames. For children who need them, custom eyeglasses follow.
Taniya describes the day in her own voice:
I had the chance to try on eyeglasses when my school hosted a vision camp through VisionSpring. Some eye doctors came into our classroom, set up different stations, and gathered our information. At the first station, I covered one eye and tried to read letters on a chart that was far away.Taniya, in her own words
Children whose eyesight was blurry moved to a second station with goggles that could switch among different lens materials. The doctor asked her to read another chart, swapping lenses until the letters came into focus. Then a third station with frames. She picked her favorite.
When I was waiting in between stations, I would spend time with my friends so I did not feel like I was going through this process all by myself. The eye doctors were kind as they answered our questions. My friends got custom eyeglasses for free, too.Taniya, in her own words
after the glasses
There is a sentence Taniya says when she lists what changed. We have not edited it:
Now that I have eyeglasses, so much has improved. I can follow along with the facial expressions and movements during dance practice again. I can see the blackboard clearly. I can sit straight during exams and keep my paper at the right distance. It feels great. I feel confidence in so many ways.Taniya, in her own words
This is what a VisionSpring vision camp does, told by one of the people it changed. Not by the organization that ran it. Not by a donor describing the program. By the learner herself, in ninth grade, in Bawana, India, in her own classroom, with her own glasses, on her own time.
There are about 239 million children around the world who need glasses and do not have them. Most of them do not know they need them. Taniya is one of the ones who found out, and got them, and lit up when the world came into focus.
why this story travels
Jordan Kassalow, the founder of VisionSpring, reached out to reweave to help him tell Taniya's story. Not in a slide deck. Not in a written case study. In a wordless film, so a child in any country could watch another child go through what they are about to experience and see that it ends in joy.
The film now travels through two networks. VisionSpring shows it to children in schools before screening programs arrive. Warby Parker's Pupils Project shows it to children in public schools across New York, Baltimore, and other cities before their own screenings.
Those two organizations are linked by more than the film. Neil Blumenthal, co-founder of Warby Parker, served as Director of VisionSpring before launching the eyewear company in 2010. Jordan brought him in as an early advisor when Warby Parker began. The two organizations have partnered ever since.
Taniya's story is the bridge. One girl. One vision camp. One pair of glasses. A wordless film that now prepares children all over the world for the same moment she had.
"It was difficult to do the activities that I loved as well as I wanted to. I had to hold things very close to my face to see them properly."
Taniya, on the blurry months before the camp
"I had the chance to try on eyeglasses when my school hosted a vision camp through VisionSpring. Some eye doctors came into our classroom, set up different stations, and gathered our information."
Taniya, on the day of the camp
"I can follow along with the facial expressions and movements during dance practice again. I can see the blackboard clearly. I can sit straight during exams."
Taniya, on what changed after
"My friends got custom eyeglasses for free, too. The eye doctors were kind as they answered our questions and talked to us about how to take care of our eyeglasses."
Taniya, on the rest of her class
"It feels great. I feel confidence in so many ways."
Taniya, on the difference glasses made
"Sometimes we do not realize that something is going on because it happens gradually rather than suddenly."
Taniya, on slow change
meet Taniya, the whole person
Beyond the vision camp, Taniya practices yoga to find samasthiti, internal balance. She dances. She brews chai for visitors. She has a favorite riddle and a favorite pose. The full story lives on her people page.
Meet Taniya →Also: the VisionSpring partnership · Jordan Kassalow · how wordless films work
Questions about Taniya, VisionSpring, and the vision camp.