El Salvador
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Most of the country consists of underserved populations living in rural villages far away from the capital of San Salvador. They have very little access to eye care. The majority of the population are farmers and textile workers who can barely afford food and shelter.
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Thirty years ago, we began a proud partnership with Fudem, a local NGO that provides excellent care to their underserved communities with low-cost to free vision care. We have facilitated grants and considerable donor support to continue the fantastic work Fudem gives to their country of El Salvador.
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Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Mujer Salvadoreña (Fudem)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
El Salvador Annual Report
2023
Patients Screened:
161,549
Glasses Donated:
29,295
Outreaches:
616
Surgeries Performed:
4,745
See all CharityVision’s annual reports here.
Who is FUDEM?
FUDEM, short for "Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Mujer" (The Development of Women Foundation), was founded in 1989 by women during the Civil War to provide eye care to families. They have helped 1.2 million children and conducted 67,000 eye surgeries. CharityVision is proud to support these women in their mission to improve eye accessibility in their community!
Knowing that 80% of learning is visual, CharityVision supports FUDEM’s ‘Ventanitas de Luz’ social assistance program. With the help of El Salvador’s Ministry of Education, the program reaches students ages 6 to 18 to receive the eye care they desperately need. This service is fully subsidized to empower students' learning and early stages of development.
This year alone, 161,320 students were helped, 67% from rural schools and 33% from urban areas.
With a new partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, CharityVision can support even more children in El Salvador through Ventanitas de Luz. Children deserve to see!
Stories from the field
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A Valentine's Miracle!
Graciela suffered from Strabismus in both eyes, leaving her cross-eyed and unable to see. Both parents work hard, but together, they only make $400 per month.
They felt heartbroken that they could not afford Graciela's surgery. Thanks to our partners at FUDEM and our wonderful donors, Graciela received her surgery just in time for Valentine's Day!
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LDS Church restoring sight with CharityVision & FUDEM
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered with CharityVision to help thousands of children with eye screenings and prescriptions glasses in El Salvador. Thanks to our partnership with FUDEM; we can reach even more school children this year.
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13 children depend on her
At 80 years old, Maria Louisa has 13 children. Maria Louisa has a talent for sewing, she even made the clothes she and her children wear. However, Maria had to stop sewing about a year ago because of her declining vision. After her eye exam, Maria walked out with a new pair of glasses. She looked down at her hands and said, “Look how wrinkly these are! Wow, I can see clearly!” Overcome with gratitude, she hugged, kissed, and smiled at everyone. Maria was granted the gift of sight, but she granted us the gift of humility and love.
